Ontario experienced severe snow squalls, originating from the areas around Georgian Bay, over the past weekend. As the snowstorms migrate southwards, weather alerts and warnings have been issued for areas from Collingwood through to London and the northern outskirts of the Greater Toronto Area.

On the weekend, almost a metre of snow was swept off the Great Lakes, causing a section of the Trans-Canada Highway to be shut down. The storm also led to power outages in more than 30,000 homes.

Lakeside communities by lakes Superior and Huron bore the brunt of the severe weather and continue to be under a snow squall warning. The regions surrounding Niagara Falls and Kingston have been put on lake-effect snow squall watch.

Gravenhurst, a town in the Muskoka region, experienced a record 140 centimetres of snowfall, prompting local authorities to declare a state of emergency.

According to the chief meteorologist at Global News, Anthony Farnell, the large volume of snow that fell on parts of the province can be attributed to the meeting of warm weather from the previous weeks with the winter cold.

Farnell explained that the autumn season had been unusually mild and calm, leading to record warm water temperatures in all five of the Great Lakes, including Georgian Bay. The arrival of arctic air, coupled with these warm water temperatures, has resulted in such intense snow squalls.

The threat of snow now appears to be shifting further south, with Environment Canada issuing snow squall warnings and forecasting 15 to 25 centimetres of snow for communities along the edge of Lake Huron and the southern shores of Georgian Bay.

Areas as far south as London, Ontario, are also expected to experience squalls, which could deposit up to 30 centimetres of snow on the city by Tuesday morning.

Weather advisories have been issued for Kitchener and Newmarket, as well as parts of Brampton and Guelph, with predictions of between five and 10 cm of snow.

Meanwhile, in Gravenhurst, cleanup efforts continued into Sunday. Emergency crews assisted in rescuing people from their cars on Saturday and took them to the Gravenhurst Town Hall, which was running on generator power due to widespread power outages in the area.

According to provincial utility Hydro One, the number of customers without power rose to over 60,000 by Sunday morning.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced via a social media post on Sunday that his government would provide additional resources to assist the snow-affected town.

Farnell warned that the risk of further snowfall is not diminishing, with the cold air expected to persist throughout the next week, leading to more snow.

The information in this article was sourced from The Canadian Press.