Polar vortex to bring record cold to Ontario,” reads the headline. But when you look at the maps, you find that Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan are also slated for historic cold … And maybe snow.
5 May 2020 – Environment Canada warns that much of Ontario can expect record cold temperatures for at least the next week.
Gerald Cheng, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, said residents in some areas of eastern and southern Ontario can expect to see nighttime temperatures dip below zero on Friday and Saturday, with cooler temperatures sticking around until the weekend.
Cheng said the seasonal daytime temperature for Ontario during this time of year is usually around 17 C with nighttime lows not going below 7 C.
“So we’re talking about nine to 10 degrees off, so you can expect record cold temperatures for the time of year,” Cheng said.
May Snow Threat
The historic cold also brings the potential for “significant” snow across the Great Lakes Basin into the weekend, particularly over higher terrain.
Snowfall isn’t exceptionally unusual in northern Ontario in May, but it is quite extraordinary for parts of southern Ontario (especially “significant” amounts).
Toronto typically accumulates a few centimetres of May snowfall every couple of decades, but it was notably more common in the 1960s and 1970s.
Expect continuous threats of snow flurries, squals and rounds of graupel.
Thanks to Argiris Diamantis (and a reader who prefers not to be named) for these links
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May 5, 2020 at 05:08PM
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