The first long weekend of the spring is going to be a wet one.
Environment Canada has issued its second special weather statement for southwestern Ontario, including London-Middlesex, Windsor-Essex, Chatham-Kent, Elgin County, and Oxford County. It says an additional 15 to 25 mm of rain is forecasted for southwestern Ontario on Saturday.
The Lower Thames region has already received between 5 and 30 mm of rain with the higher amounts received in the west of the watershed, especially around the Chatham area. This is on top of the 20 to 60 mm already received since Thursday. The wet weather is the result of a series of low-pressure systems from the Southern Plains states. Trace amounts of rainfall is expected for the remainder of the weekend.
"Although the ground is generally no longer frozen, it will still have a limited ability to absorb this rainfall. As a result, some ponding of water is possible in low-lying areas," the national weather agency said in a statement.
Flooding concerns were echoed by the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA).
The heavy rain has caused water levels in streams, ditches, and rivers to rise to near full bank conditions. No serious flooding is anticipated, but water levels will remain elevated into next week, according to conservation officials. Residents are urged to use extreme caution near all waterways, and keep children and pets away as banks will be very slippery and the water cold and fast-moving.
The UTRCA’s flood control reservoirs at Fanshawe, Wildwood and Pittock Conservation Areas are at seasonal levels and will be operated to reduce any downstream flooding.
In Chatham, the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority said water levels on the Thames River have continued to rise and that the sidewalk in downtown Chatham is already flooded. The river flats in the Chatham-Kent area already have water in them from the heavy rains in the area. Simcoe Lane under the 5th St. bridge is expected to flood.
A flood watch has been issued in Windsor-Essex for the Lake St. Clair shoreline in the eastern limits of the City of Windsor, Town of Tecumseh and the Town of Lakeshore as well at the Lake Erie shoreline on the north shore of Pelee Island and the Detroit River shoreline areas in Amherstburg and LaSalle.
Rain is expected to clear out of the region early Sunday morning.