Environment Canada has issued a Winter Storm Watch for Windsor-Essex as a winter storm is expected to bring a lot of snow to the area.
Environment Canada says that rain Tuesday night will transition to snow by early Wednesday morning and is not expected to end until late Thursday or early Friday morning, with 20 cm to 30 cm of snow expected by the time the storm ends.
Wind gusts up to 70 km/h Wednesday night into Thursday may produce reduced visibilities in heavy snow and blowing snow.
Peter Kimbell, Warning Preparedness Meteorologist with Environment Canada, says it will start as rain on Tuesday before a cold front will drop south of the area Wednesday morning and at the same time, a low pressure system will track south of the Great Lakes across the U.S. will bring moisture.
"That's when the trouble starts. Wednesday morning to basically until the end of Thursday, maybe even Thursday night, there's going to be a prolonged period of snow We're looking for a fair amount of snow piling up for the first time in a long time," he says.
Kimbell says Wednesday night is expected to be the worst part of the storm.
"People will want to avoid travelling on the roads beginning Wednesday morning, It's hard to say exactly when, maybe around 9 a.m. The worst time will probably be Wednesday evening and overnight," he adds.
Environment Canada says that rapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult and hazardous over some locations due to reduce visibility at times in heavy snow.