Environment Canada is tracking colder than normal temperatures across Grey Bruce this winter season.
Warning Preparedness Meteorologist Geoff Coulson says between Monday and Tuesday, Environment Canada’s observation site at the Wiarton Airport has reported 31 centimetres of snow.
“Looking at the radar right now and current visibility in the area, we are certainly adding to that total. We remain under a yellow level snow squall warning for the area and unfortunately, expect that activity to continue off and on through the day today and even into the overnight hours and perhaps into Thursday morning,” says Coulson.
He adds despite the Grey Bruce region being accustomed to snowy winters, there has been more snow than normal throughout December and January.
“Total snowfall accumulations for the whole winter in the Wiarton area are about 385 centimetres of snow. Up until yesterday, we have already received 343 centimetres of snow and there is lots of winter left to go. It looks like this winter is going to go down as a snowier than normal one,” says Coulson.
Looking ahead to the rest of the winter season, Coulson says there is still a fair amount of open water on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.
“Expect temperatures to remain notably colder than normal through the rest of the work week and into Saturday, but it looks like a return to more seasonal temperatures as we get into the weekend and the first few days of February. Having said that, normal highs of minus three and normal lows of minus 11. Even with those normal temperatures, still quite possible to generate more in the way of lake effect snow activity of the course of the coming days. Overall, we are expecting temperatures to remain colder than normal through the month of February,” says Coulson.
He recommends people to be aware of the winter conditions as they travel and to keep in mind localized poor visibility.
“While your area may not be getting hit all that hard at the moment, if you are planning travel in and around Grey Bruce and down towards other parts of southern Ontario, highly changeable conditions are possible. It is always a good idea to check what is on the radar to see where these bands of snow are occurring and the latest forecast to see where those bands could be moving,” says Coulson.