A STORM IS CURRENTLY OVER ALABAMA AND WILL PUSH NORTHWARD THIS EVENING GIVING SIGNIFICANT SNOW TO MOST OF SOUTHERN ONTARIO. THE FIRST ROUND HAS BEGUN OVER AREAS NORTH OF THE LOWER GREAT LAKES AND WILL BEGIN THIS EVENING ACROSS EASTERN ONTARIO AND SKI COUNTRY. THE NIAGARA PENINSULA HAS ALREADY RECEIVED ABOUT 9 CM. SNOW MAY BECOME LIGHT AND MORE INTERMITTENT OVERNIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING. THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL IS THEN EXPECTED IN THE SECOND ROUND BEGINNING SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN THE SOUTHWEST AND SATURDAY EVENING OVER EASTERN ONTARIO. KEEP IN MIND THAT THE SNOWFALL DURATION WILL BE ABOUT 36 HOURS BUT THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL BE SATURDAY AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. STORM TOTALS WILL LIKELY BE 30 TO 40 CENTIMETRES ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM ST THOMAS TO BARRIE THEN TO PETAWAWA. THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR 40 TO 50 CENTIMETRES OF SNOW OVER THE NIAGARA PENINSULA AND PARTS OF HALIBURTON HIGHLANDS INTO PEMBROKE. AREAS WEST OF THE ST THOMAS TO PETAWAWA LINE SHOULD SEE BETWEEN 10 TO 20 CENTIMETRES WITH LESSER AMOUNTS NEAR LAKE HURON AND GEORGIAN BAY. WITH THE WARM FRONT JUST TO THE SOUTH OF THE ST LAWRENCE VALLEY THEY MAY EXPECT ICE PELLETS SATURDAY AFTERNOON. BEHIND THIS SYSTEM STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS TO 70 KM/H ARE LIKELY. ON SATURDAY STRONG WINDS COMBINED WITH FRESH SNOW WILL CAUSE BLOWING SNOW AND LOCAL WHITEOUT CONDITIONS CREATING DANGEROUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. TRAVELLERS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO CHANGE THEIR PLANS ACCORDINGLY. AREAS NORTH OF LAKE ONTARIO AND INTO THE ST LAWRENCE VALLEY SHOULD NOT BE SURPRISED BY THE OCCURRENCE OF SOME THUNDER AND LIGHTNING AS THIS VIGOROUS LOW PASSES BY LATE SATURDAY. ENVIRONMENT CANADA WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE SITUATION TO UPDATE WATCHES AND WARNINGS AS REQUIRED.
PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST PUBLIC FORECASTS FOR FURTHER DETAILS.