Toronto under special weather statement due to strong winds

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for Toronto and much of the GTA, calling for strong winds with gusts of 70-80 km/h.

The national weather agency said the westerly winds will develop Monday afternoon with the passage of a cold front.

Temperatures started off the day at 10 C but are expected to drop to 3 C later in the day. It will be colder on Tuesday with a high near -2 C.

Outside of Toronto, a snow squall watch is in effect for Newmarket – Georgina – Northern York Region and Uxbridge – Beaverton – Northern Durham Region.

“Conditions are favourable for a period of lake effect snow squalls off Georgian Bay beginning this evening,” Environment Canada said, adding that the squalls could continue into Tuesday.

The agency warns of blowing snow for those areas and said snowfall accumulation could exceed 15 centimetres in 12 hours.

Over the weekend, Environment Canada had issued special weather statements for Toronto for a mixed bag of precipitation, and parts of the GTA while Halton-Peel and Dufferin-Innisfil were under freezing rain warnings. The mixed precipitation was expected from Halton Hills out to Oshawa on Sunday night.

For Toronto, heavy rain was expected overnight until late Monday morning. Environment Canada cautioned city dwellers to brace for strong winds Monday afternoon until Tuesday morning.

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With files from Lucas Casaletto