Snow squalls blast northeastern Ontario, triggering weather alerts

Environment Canada issued a series of snow squall watches and warnings on Wednesday for a broad swath of northeastern Ontario, forecasting hazardous travel and near-zero visibility as a sharp cold front sweeps across the region.

The weather agency warns of “quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions” starting on the afternoon of Dec. 3 and continuing into Thursday.

Hazardous conditions expected

For communities including Greater Sudbury, Kirkland Lake and Temiskaming Shores, a ‘yellow warning’ is in effect.

Environment Canada said the frontal system will bring “brief, intense snowfall” and that “visibility will be rapidly reduced due to the heavy snow combined with blowing snow.”

“Travel will likely be hazardous,” said the official in the alert for these areas.

“Visibility will likely be suddenly reduced to near zero at times.”

Other regions – including Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Parry Sound, Espanola and West Nipissing – are under a ‘yellow watch,’ indicating hazardous conditions are possible.

Significant snowfall forecast

The forecasts predict varying snowfall amounts across the affected regions. The Sault Ste. Marie area could see the most extreme conditions, with “total snowfall amounts of 20 to 40 cm” and “intense snowfall rates of 5 to 10 cm per hour at times.”

“Travel may be extremely hazardous,” said Sault Ste. Marie’s alert.

“Visibility may be suddenly reduced to near zero at times. Roads and walkways may be very difficult to navigate due to accumulating snow. Road closures are possible.”

Most other regions under watches – including North Bay, Espanola and West Nipissing – are forecast to receive total local snowfall amounts of 5 to 15 cm. Areas under warnings – like Greater Sudbury and Temiskaming Shores – are expected to see snowfall of about 10 cm.

Northern communities activate cold weather responses

Concurrent with the weather alerts, municipal and social service agencies activated extreme cold weather plans.

The Homelessness Network of Sudbury announced an Extreme Cold Weather Alert for the next 24 hours, triggered in part by the Environment Canada alerts alerts.

“This Alert will put into action a short-term (overnight) emergency plan to increase community services when the temperature is predicted to be below -15 degrees Celsius, below -20 with a wind chill, or when Environment Canada issues a storm watch or weather warning,” the network said in a release Wednesday.

The City of Timmins also issued an alert, warning of temperatures expected to drop to -34 degrees Celsius overnight with wind chill.

“Exposure to extreme cold temperatures can cause serious and sometimes even life-threatening health problems, such as frostbite and hypothermia,” said the City of Timmins in its own news release.

In Sudbury, emergency shelters and warming centres have extended availability. The network’s release notes that “people on the street will be encouraged to voluntarily access shelters and services.”

“Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada,” said the weather agency.

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