Special weather alert in effect for Toronto as 15 cm of snow could fall by Christmas Day

It's looking more and more like Toronto is going to see a white Christmas after all, and a new special weather statement from Environment Canada suggests the city may receive more than just a light dusting of snow by Dec. 25. 

The federal weather agency issued the updated statement at 4:46 a.m. Thursday morning, and it calls for 10 to 20 mm of rainfall today before possible periods of freezing rain this evening and a whole lot of snow tonight.

"Rain may become heavy at times today before changing to snow early this evening," reads the statement. "A brief period of freezing rain may be possible this evening during the transition."

Windy, wet & very mild this morning; Rain will change to snow from west to east across our region thru the afternoon; Snow picks up in intensity later this evening & overnight; Snow early Christmas morning diminishes to occasional flurries thru the day; Snow totals 12-20 cm #onwx pic.twitter.com/d9fr8SBqwq

— Doug Gillham (@gtaweather1) December 24, 2020

By mid-evening, Environment Canada says all precipitation will likely have turned to snow, with as much as 10 to 15 cm expected to fall by the middle of the morning Friday.

"Confidence is lower for if and how long freezing rain will occur for, but it is generally not expected to be a major impact for this event," reads the statement. "Confidence is higher that a snowfall of 10 cm will happen tonight."

The weather agency says they'll issue a snowfall warning if totals of 15 cm are more likely than 10 cm, so residents should stay tuned for more updates. 

In the meantime, meteorologists say people in Toronto can expect poor road conditions beginning this evening due to accumulating snow regardless. 

In other words, even the weather conditions will be ideal for you to stay home and celebrate safely this Christmas.