The rainy weather expected to hit southwestern Ontario over the next day or so could end up bringing more of the wet stuff than forecasters first thought.
Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for the London-Middlesex, Elgin County, Oxford County, Chatham-Kent, and Windsor-Essex areas with between 15 mm to 25 mm expected to fall across the region Monday during the day and in the evening.
Because the ground is still frozen, the water could pool and puddle more quickly. A rainfall warning could be issued if the forecast changes to include more than 25 mm within 24 hours.
Environment Canada Meteorologist Weiqing Zhang says the worst of the storm will wreak havoc on eastern Ontario, though. Places like Ottawa and Montreal are expected to get freezing rain and some parts of northeastern Ontario could even get up to 20 cm of snow.
"It's good news for Southwestern Ontario because this storm is coming from the southwest of the United States -- it's not from the north," says Zhang. "Once the storm comes in close to us, actually the temperature over Southwest Ontario, like Windsor, London, and Chatham region, will be well above freezing levels."
The rain won't last long, though. Zhang says the weather will start to shift towards the middle of the week.
"We will become dry and probably a bit colder, with no precipitation at all on Wednesday," she says.