Sunny Tuesday to give way to messy Wednesday, meteorologist says
Snow, rain, and back to snow for later part of the week
Temperatures will start to warm up a bit this week, but there's a mix of sloppy weather on the way.
Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson said a new weather system is moving into Waterloo Region Wednesday.
"Unfortunately it looks like a pretty messy one," Coulson said in an interview with CBC News.
The day will start with snow and possibly ice pellets, switch to rain in the afternoon and then possibly switch back to flurries overnight into Thursday.
Wednesday has a forecast high of 4 C, Thursday is 3 C and Friday is 2 C with a chance of snow.
Saturday, the sun returns, but the temperature will dip to -4 C.
"We're bouncing all over the place when it comes to these temperature forecasts. This is a time of year when we normally see a lot of variability, but with this cold snap, it is certainly complicating things," Coulson said.
More snow than usual
Waterloo Region has already seen more snow in the first few days of April than what is typically seen for the entire month. The long-term average snowfall in the area is seven centimetres but Coulson said that bar was passed by Monday afternoon.
"April is a month when we can see snowfall … but not necessarily with the amount and the persistence that we're experiencing to start off this particular month," Coulson said.
The Grand River Conservation Authority ended a flood watch on Monday for the watershed, but said snow and rain could change conditions over the next couple of days.
"Some runoff and river response is expected … as ground conditions remain saturated," the GRCA said in a release, adding staff will be monitoring the conditions closely.
April a transition month
The winter-like weather will continue until between April 15 and 17, Coulson said, when weather models show a return to more seasonal temperatures, including daytime highs of 10 C.
"April tends to be a transition month, a battleground month if you will, between the still dominant air masses, the cold ones coming down from the north, but we also see a resurgence in the strength of the air masses coming up from the American deep south," he said.
"The sun is getting stronger, the days are getting longer, there is that one positive, but certainly these daytime highs for many of the coming days are pretty far away from where they should be for this time of year."