Rainfall warning issued for southern Ontario, some areas under freezing rain warning as well
Posted March 31, 2025 5:59 pm.
Last Updated April 1, 2025 4:56 pm.
As many areas north and east of Toronto continue to clean up from an ice storm that knocked out power to over 400,000 customers, rainfall and freezing rain warnings have been issued for large parts of southern Ontario.
The areas under a freezing rain warning include York Region, Halton Region and Durham Region with the freezing rain beginning just east of Lake Huron on Wednesday morning before reaching eastern Ontario by the afternoon.
Environment Canada says this freezing rain event will not be nearly as significant as the ice storm from this past weekend.
Precipitation may begin as snow and ice pellets for some areas and up to 4 millimetres of ice accretion is possible. Winds gusting 50 to 60 kilometres per hour could exacerbate any tree damage.
As temperatures warm up, the freezing rain will turn into rain by the evening across Ontario.
Almost all of southern Ontario, including Toronto, is also under a rainfall warning with up to 50 millimetres of rain set to fall between Wednesday and Thursday morning.
“Rain begins Wednesday morning over extreme southwestern Ontario before reaching the Golden Horseshoe Wednesday afternoon,” Canada’s weather agency noted. “With thunderstorms expected, rainfall amounts may exceed 50 mm over some areas, particularly over southwestern Ontario. Rain will end from west to east overnight into early Thursday morning.”
The weather agency says localized flooding in low-lying areas is also possible as the ground has very little ability to absorb the rainfall after this weekend.
