Parts of Ontario are about to be slammed with up to 30 cm of snow

Parts of Ontario could find themselves digging out from as much as 30 centimetres of snow this weekend, as a developing major U.S. storm threatens to dump heavy snowfall across the region.

According to the latest Weather Network report, a "destructive U.S. storm" could potentially "swipe southern Ontario on Sunday with significant snow," with some areas near and south of the Highway 401 corridor seeing between 10 to 20 centimetres of the white stuff.

However, frigid, Arctic air that's flowing off Lake Ontario into the GTA could increase snowfall totals, potentially leading to localized totals of 30 centimetres or more.

With the wind chill, temperatures are set to feel like a bone-chilling -34 C on Friday night into Saturday, while the actual temperature is expected to be around -25 C. In northern Ontario, the polar vortex could send wind chills plummeting into the -40s, although a gradual return to more tolerable temperatures is expected soon after.

The same icy conditions have already plunged significant portions of the U.S. Midwest into extreme cold, and the temperatures have even prompted some meteorologists and local officials to warn of a rare "exploding tree" phenomenon.

What are exploding trees?

Before you get too worried, it's not as extreme as it sounds.

This phenomenon happens when temperatures drop enough for the sap inside a tree to freeze, which then causes it to expand due to its high water content. The process can create enough pressure to tear open the tree's bark, which is then followed by a loud noise.

Photo: @radiobenolson.

Still, in most cases, native plants can handle cold temperatures, but if conditions drop below what is considered "seasonal" or too quickly before a tree has time to acclimatize, it can lead to "frost crack."

"This sounds like a lot, and it can be for the tree, but we do not live inside a Michael Bay film. The trees don't explode into a fiery ball, but an event like this can be quite loud," the Weather Network notes.

Despite the storm ahead, temperatures are expected to warm and reach seasonal levels by early next month, but colder-than-normal conditions could still return later in February.