THUNDER BAY -- Thunder Bay will escape the worst of the weather system that's brought snow to parts of northwestern Ontario, but Environment Canada says a change in the recent weather pattern may bring more snow to the Lakehead area in the days ahead.
Snowfall warnings are in effect for areas such as Kenora, Nestor Falls, Ignace and Dryden, with accumulations of 15 to 20 centimetres likely by Tuesday morning. Gusty winds up to 50 km/h will also produce some blowing snow around those communities.
Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson says the northwest faces the prospect of "a real messy situation" over the next few days, and in the wake of light snow that started in the city early this morning, the outlook for Thunder Bay is for rain to start Monday evening.
Coulson expects up to 10 millimetres of rain for the city before it stops about noon on Tuesday.
Wednesday and Thursday could bring what he calls "potentially another messy system" to Thunder Bay, with a mix of snow and rain. Forecasters, he said, will be taking another look at the various weather models for mid-week, and "we may start to see some statements about this system going out during the day on Tuesday, as the forecasters get a better sense of where that rain/snow line is gonna be."
Environment Canada believes it may now take awhile for the next spell of milder spring weather to arrive in the northwest.
"We did have a stretch of pretty nice weather leading up to this, but it does look like we're going to be settling into a somewhat colder-than-normal weather pattern," Coulson said.
Although the upcoming weekend should see some sunshine with slightly below-normal temperatures in Thunder Bay, he said the model for the following week points to a new weather system with the potential for additional snow.
