With less than two weeks to go before Christmas, many will be hitting the roads this weekend and next week. How will the weather impact your travel plans? See the full forecast details, below.
Our weekend weather won’t be particularly festive, but at least it won’t interfere with travel plans, either.
Friday will feature abundant sunshine across most of southern Ontario, but temperatures will be more typical of mid January.
Bands of lake-effect snow could impact Friday travel ahead of the weekend
However, there will be one localized travel complication. Narrow bands of lake-effect snow will continue through the day on Friday near the southern end of Georgian Bay. This will impact travel along the 400 and Highway 11 north of Barrie. However, the snow squalls will diminish during the afternoon and evening with improving travel conditions.
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Friday night will be clear and seasonably cold.
Ideal weather day for holiday plans on Saturday
Saturday will be an ideal weather day, both for travel or for hitting the slopes and enjoying the abundance of lake-effect snow that will fall across that region over the next couple of days.
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Sunshine during Saturday morning will fade behind increasing clouds during the afternoon and evening and temperatures will be near seasonal.
Sunday will be cloudy with showers developing across most of southern Ontario. The rain could start as wet snow or a mix of rain and wet snow, especially for areas to the north of the Greater Toronto Area, but this will have minimal impact on travel, and precipitation totals will be light.
Back to feeling like November
Early next week will be very mild. Clouds will mix with some peeks of sun on Monday, and temperatures will be more typical of mid-November.
Showers are likely during Tuesday, and temperatures will continue to be very mild.
Wednesday will be a few degrees colder (closer to seasonal) with flurries for cottage country and south of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.
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Looking ahead to the end of next week and weekend, we are watching the potential for a stronger cold front, which should bring us a few days of chilly weather for the final few days leading up to Christmas.
Will there be a white Christmas?
The transition to colder weather could include a messy system late next week or next weekend, but it is much too early to have confidence in the exact track of this system and how that will impact southern Ontario.
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However, since most of southern Ontario will not have snow on the ground at this point (aside from the snowbelt areas east of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay), we know that the details of the weather during those final days before Christmas will determine whether we will have a green or white Christmas. Please check back for updates as we get closer to the holidays!
Ontario’s 2025 Winter Forecast: Strong potential for big snow events
Thumbnail image courtesy: Kyle Brittain