Hard rain's going to fall in the GTA

Once the rain starts to fall again this week, it’s going to fall hard -- as much as 30 mm, according to Environment Canada.

Though nowhere near as extreme — or as destructive — as the storms in the tornado-ravaged central and Southern U.S., Ontario will catch wind of the same weather system.

“There is a weather system that is coming our way, but people shouldn’t dive under the bed in fear,” said Dave Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada.

“Weather systems move across the continent, and what we’re going to see is a low-pressure weather system with a warm front that will come through this evening. It’s related to that system that’s causing some problems down [in the U.S.], but it’s not the same volatility, it’s not the same extreme, not the same severity as what they’re seeing at all.”

The American National Weather Service is warning that several U.S. states are still at high risk for furious weather, with storms possible from Louisiana northeast to the Ohio Valley.

Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri are all under “conditions favourable to the development of long-lived, rotating thunderstorms that could produce strong, fast-moving tornadoes,” according to the storm prediction centre’s website. A massive tornado in Joplin, Missouri, killed 122 people Sunday.

There is a risk of thunderstorms in southern Ontario beginning Wednesday night, spreading to eastern Ontario by Thursday morning.

But far from twisters, the main threat is hail, downpours and gusting winds, Phillips said. He added that though it might feel that way, we are nowhere near record-breaking rainfall this spring. 

“It’s been a wet spring, but we’ve got a long ways to go to break a record,” Phillips said.

The skies will finally clear by the weekend, with temperatures around 27ºC, well above normal, or what Phillips called a “glorious piece of good news” for the growing season.  

-- Zoe McKnight, Staff Reporter