Updated December 4, 2024 @ 4:28pm
"Winter has arrived," OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said Wednesday.
Environment Canada has issued a snow squall warning for the Barrie and Collingwood areas, while a watch is in effect for the Orillia and Midland areas.
Forecasters say in the wake of a cold front, local snow squalls will fire up overnight and continue until Thursday night, with the Collingwood and Meaford areas expected to receive the heaviest snowfall amounts. Locally, some places could get 15 to 30 cm.
Wind gusts to 70 km/h will cause localized blowing snow.
Related: Stay updated through our Weather & Storm Watch page.
The weather system that crossed southern Ontario on Wednesday did not drop a lot of snow, but there was enough to make for some tricky travelling.
The good news for Muskoka is the squall activity is expected to miss the area through Thursday while squalls around Mactier and Parry Sound will fizzle Wednesday evening when the wind shifts to the northwest.
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Schmidt says if you are venturing out on the roads, think about packing an emergency kit and keep extra supplies handy like a jacket, gloves, boots, and a charged cell phone.
"And if you're at home, making sure you have essentials is also critical," explained Schmidt. "There could be loss of power and we don't know how long it will take to get power restored. Crews are still working on restoring power from last weekend's power outage and weather event."
Also over the weekend and into this week, a tractor-trailer crash on Highway 11 closed both directions from Orillia to Huntsville for days. Huntsville OPP said in a release this morning that emergency crews are still working to clear snow on secondary roads off Highway 11, and are preparing for more snowfall in Huntsville and Lake of Bays Township.
Schmidt added that "the less traffic gets out there, the easier it is for them to maintain and keep up with the snow clearing. So please, stay home if you can."
Officers say if you are in a life-threatening situation, call 9-1-1, and contact the OPP non-emergency number, 1-888-310-1122, for all other matters.
With files from The Canadian Press
