THUNDER BAY — Despite the city not seeing much in terms of snow accumulation Wednesday morning and into the early afternoon, Environment Canada says the worst is still to come.
The weather office maintained similar expectations for the storm in an updated winter storm warning issued shortly after 3 p.m. on Wednesday, calling for 20 to 30 centimetres of snow (Tuesday evening, officials had upgraded the maximum amount to 40 centimetres), which will, at times, fall heavily.
The warning predicted easterly winds gusting from 50 to 70 kilometres per hour, along with reduced visibility in heavy and blowing snow.
“There's a much heavier brand of snow still working its way northeastwards from the Minnesota area,” said Environment Canada warning preparedness meteorologist Geoff Coulson. “So, we're expecting the snow to intensify this evening and continue overnight and that's when the bulk of the accumulation will fall.”
Coulson said that some light snow — “maybe an additional few centimetres” — is expected to fall Thursday morning before tapering off in the afternoon.
“The way things are shaping up right now, the combination of the wind and the snow will likely intensify this evening and continue to be falling very heavily during the overnight hours as well,” he said.
“The first of the heavier snow (is) likely to start this evening and then continue into the early morning hours on Thursday.”
Given the temperatures in Thunder Bay being around the freezing mark on Wednesday and only being expected to drop a couple of degrees overnight, Coulson said the snow that does fall will likely be quite heavy.
“Certainly with the amounts that we're talking about, people are going to want to take it easy trying to shovel it,” he said.
The Environment Canada warning maintained that travel is expected to be hazardous due to reduced visibility and rapidly accumulating snow and that people should consider postponing non-essential travel.
A snowfall warning remained in effect for many areas to the west, north and east of Thunder Bay on Wednesday afternoon, with expectations of 15 to 25 centimetres.
Looking ahead, Coulson said temperatures are expected to bounce up to 7 C on Friday with some sun in the forecast.
-With files from Sheri Leviski-Kotyk
