A rainfall warning has been issued for most of southern Ontario as Environment Canada is urging residents to brace for as much as 50 mm of rain.
The warning covers our entire coverage area, with the exception of the northern parts of Bruce-Grey.
Environment Canada says two weather systems are approaching the province – one from Alberta and one from Texas.
The systems are expected to merge over the Great Lakes, at which point they will intensify.
That intensification will bring warmer temperatures to the area, but also cause significant precipitation and strong winds.
Forecasts call for rain to enter southwestern Ontario around the noon hour Thursday, moving west to east into the Golden Horseshoe over the course of the afternoon.
For most of our coverage area, the bulk of the precipitation is expected to fall as rain, with 30 to 40 mm possible. Localized thunderstorms could also occur.
The precipitation may fall as freezing rain, ice pellets or snow when it first hits the area, but that is not expected to last for long.
In northern parts of Grey-Bruce, Barrie and areas to the northeast, the precipitation is more likely to fall as a mix of snow, rain, freezing rain and ice pellets, with up to 10 cm of snow and 20 mm of rain possible.
Environment Canada warns that the exact boundary between where the precipitation falls as rain and where it is more mixed could change as the storm approaches.
Along Great Lakes shorelines, high winds could also be a concern, with gusts of 70 to 80 km/h possible.
The rain is expected to continue through until sometime Friday.
In Waterloo Region and Perth County, forecasts call for rain to begin early Thursday afternoon and continue through the night.
Temperatures will hit a Thursday afternoon high of 3 C and warm up further through the night, hitting 6 C by Friday morning.
