Toronto under special weather statement warning of freezing rain and high winds

Winter may have officially ended on Sunday, but that doesn't mean Toronto is in the clear. Springlike weather arrived just before the official start of the season, but this temporary reprieve from the cold has ended as temperatures plummeted back into the freezing range on Tuesday morning.

And it's about to get a whole lot worse, with Environment Canada issuing a special weather statement for the City of Toronto on Tuesday morning, warning of the risk of freezing rain and high winds coming our way on Wednesday.

The statement warns that "freezing rain is possible and may lead to icy surfaces," and that "rainfall amounts up to 20 mm may result in localized ponding on roads." Making matters worse, the cold weather and icy rainfall will be accompanied by "strong easterly winds gusting up to 70 km/h."

Rainfall is expected to begin Tuesday evening with temperatures at or above freezing before the temperature plunges to as low as -6 C in the overnight hours.

A 60 per cent chance of rain or freezing rain is expected for Wednesday morning, likely to be concentrated in areas north of Highway 401, while areas closer to Lake Ontario are expected to experience milder temperatures.

The precipitation is expected to continue into the afternoon, when northern areas of the city will face the risk of further freezing rain. Winds of 40 km/h will sweep across the city, and some areas could see gusts up to 70 km/h, while temperatures will hover between +2 and -4 C.

The threat should be over by late Wednesday afternoon, when rising temperatures end the risk of freezing rain, though you should keep that umbrella on hand as rain is expected to remain through the rest of the workweek.

It should still be a bit of a rollercoaster temperature-wise for the rest of the week, swinging from a high of 8 C on Thursday back down to 1 C again on Sunday.

But hang on Toronto. It's almost over.