Much of southwestern Ontario looks like a winter wonderland following Sunday's day-long snowfall, but the white stuff won't be sticking to the ground for long.
Roughly 13 centimetres of snow fell in London, with slightly higher accumulation reported to the east of the city.
The region was under a snowfall warning and a winter weather travel advisory for much of the day Sunday as flakes began to fall around 7:30 a.m. and continued until roughly 10 p.m.
"It was a very elongated and extended line of precipitation and that is why we kept getting more snow, but slowly and surely in the evening hours it wound down. It really did occupy the whole day Sunday," said Gerald Cheng, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.
Roads were snow covered and icy for the bulk of the day slowing traffic. By Monday morning, all main routes were plowed and traffic was moving well.
The wintry system saw people starved for activities due to a year of COVID-19 cancellations get outside to build snowmen and snow forts. However, that form of entertainment will be short-lived as the blanket of snow that now covers lawns and roof tops won't last through the week.
"From Monday into Tuesday the snow will stick to the ground because we are looking at temperatures hovering around 1 C or 2 C. That makes it a bit difficult for all of it to melt," said Cheng. "So we really have to wait for Wednesday into Thursday when temperatures are going back up again for all the snow to melt."
The temperature is forecast to climb to 7 C on Wednesday, two degrees higher than the average daytime high for this time of year. It will not fall back below the freezing mark until Saturday night when it is expected to drop to minus 1 C.