Heavy rainfall. (Photo courtesy © Can Stock Photo Inc. / sarah_jane)Heavy rainfall. (Photo courtesy © Can Stock Photo Inc. / sarah_jane)
Chatham

Heavy Rain, Snow Coming Soon

Prepare to be soaked -- a "major storm" system is still on track to sweep through the region over the next two days.

Environment Canada says a mixture of snow and rain will begin overnight Tuesday.

Meteorologist Geoff Coulson says there's some concern about the heavy rainfall expected Wednesday.

"Current ranges somewhere between 15-25mm of rain is possible," he says. "If we do think that amount could be somewhere closer to 25mm, that would be our criteria for a rainfall warning."

With a high of 3 C (37 F) on Wednesday, Coulson says freezing rain shouldn't really be an issue. Despite the changing forecast, Coulson says the system is still very much a "major storm" that should be considered "fairly intense."

Winds could gust up to 60km/h at times on Wednesday and the storm will taper off with some snow on Thursday. Coulson says 5cm to 8cm of the white stuff could fall overnight Thursday with a few more centimeters expected during the day.

"But certainly not the large-scale snowfall amounts we're expecting ... up through areas like Dufferin County, Barrie, Orillia areas -- some of those areas could see in excess of 20-30cm of snow."

A special weather statement remains in effect for Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent. Officials caution that this is a developing storm and Environment Canada will issue updates as new information becomes available.

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