Blowing snow advisories as snow continues to fall Thursday ahead of a very cold weekend

Julie Atchison has the latest forecast for south and midwestern Ontario

As winter weather continues to wallop parts of midwestern Ontario, snow squall warnings are in effect in through Bruce County, including the Bruce Peninsula and Grey County.

Huron and Perth counties are under a blowing snow advisory, with an additional five to 10 centimeters of snow with blowing snow through the afternoon and into the evening.

“The lake effect snow will continue in those areas. London’s picked up a few centimeters of fresh snowfall today and we are expecting another couple centimeters to move through heading into the afternoon evening and flurries will linger into tonight,” said CTV News London meteorologist Julie Atchison.

“Arctic cold front will usher in some of the coldest air of the season as we head into your Friday,” she added.

Looking at the forecast model, it’s lake enhanced flurries and that continues over London, tonight at 10 p.m. we’ll be into some accumulating snowfall.

“Northern Middlesex County will likely see higher amounts of snow and then squalls will become a little bit more localized heading into Friday morning,” said Atchison.

She said there will once again be road closures and likely bus cancellations north of London, especially through Huron County and Bruce County.

“These snow squall bands are intense. The blowing snow, the winds are gusty and of course all those open areas, the rural areas seeing that snow whipping across the highways.”

According to Atchison, this will not be a big system for midwestern Ontario, where issues will come this weekend will be lake effect flurries.

Bruce County has declared a significant weather event due to forecasted or observed weather conditions.

“Bruce county wishes to note that the declaration of a significant weather event is not notice of a reduced level of service or a road closure. The declaration is to notify the public that due to the current or forecasted conditions, caution is to be observed when travelling on Bruce County roads and that it may take longer than usual to bring the condition of the roads back to a state of repair,” the county said in a statement.

Road closures

• Highway 6: Mount Forest to Fergus
• Highway 23: Mitchell to Harriston Highway 21: Amberley to Port Elgin
• Highway 23: Fallon Dr. to Highway 7
• Grey Road 2: Grey 31 to Conc. 88
• Grey 12: Grey Road 40 to Grey Rd 30
• Grey Bruce Line: Grey Road 5 to Grey Road 40
• Bruce Road 3 From Walkerton HWY 9 to Paisley
• Bruce Road 19 From Walkerton to Chesley
• Bruce Road 1 From Bruce Road 20 to Paisley
• Bruce Road 20 From Hwy 9 to Bruce Road 1
• Grey Bruce Line From Scone to Hwy 21

Here’s a look at the rest of the forecast

Thursday: Flurries. Local blowing snow. Local amount 2 cm. Wind west 30 km/h gusting to 50. Temperature steady near minus 6. Wind chill near minus 17.

Thursday night: Flurries. Local blowing snow this evening. Local amount 2 cm. Wind west 30 km/h gusting to 50. Low minus 16. Wind chill minus 17 this evening and minus 27 overnight.

Friday: Mainly cloudy with 40 per cent chance of flurries in the morning and early in the afternoon. Flurries beginning in the afternoon. Wind west 30 km/h gusting to 50. Temperature steady near minus 14. Wind chill near minus 27.

Saturday: Sunny. High minus 13.

Sunday: Snow. High minus 11.

Monday: Cloudy. High minus 8.