Old Man Winter will be a little kinder to southwestern Ontario in the first week of winter, but if you're travelling, you will want to check the forecast for where you're headed.
Winter officially arrived at 5:44am Wednesday.
The forecast for the first day calls for snow, but severe weather meteorologist at Environment Canada Geoff Coulson says if you are staying put for the holidays, you'll have lucked out.
"It looks like the main part of this system is going to leave the snow more in eastern Ontario," he says. "So a little bit of accumulation for Wednesday and into Wednesday night but [we're] not expecting significant amounts."
After the cold snap we've had in the region over the past week or so, you may be tempted to think we are in line for an easy winter. Not so, says Coulson, but it won't be a particularly harsh winter either. He says temperatures this season should be, on average, normal or just above normal.
"Now it's important to note that traditionally January is our coldest month so saying temperatures around seasonal would be daytime highs of -1 C (30 F) and overnight lows of -8 C (18 F)," he says.
Coulson stresses that doesn't mean we won't get the odd cold snap to remind us that a Canadian winter is only so forgiving, but the models suggest those bitter stretches won't be pronounced or as long as they were in 2014 or 2013.
