'Rain-and-snow sandwich' headed for Windsor-Essex

A sloppy mix of snow and rainis on the way for Windsor-Essex, according to forecasters.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)says snow is in the cards for Tuesday morning, followed up 20 to 30millimetres of rain, then flurries beginning overnight and sticking around on Wednesday.

In total, up to five centimetres of snow could fall Tuesday.

"So kind of a rain-and-snow sandwich, with snow on both ends" said Peter Kimbell, warning preparedness meteorologist with ECCC.

The agency issueda special weather statement for Windsor-Essex, Sarnia-Lambton and Chatham-Kent, saying the snow may be heavy at times before changing to rain around mid-day.

The City of Windsor says crews are getting ready for the "messy mix"of precipitation starting early Tuesday morning.

"Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become slippery.Motorists are asked to drive slowly and give extra room for stopping," the city said in a media release Monday afternoon.

"Both the morning and afternoon rush hour are expected to be affected by the storm causing delays due to the changing road conditions."

The city starts plowing main streets after five centimetres of snow has fallen, a process that takes three to six hours.

Plows move into residential areas after a 10-centimetre snowfall.

But so far this season, less than 10 centimetres of snow havefallen in the Windsor area in total.

The average yearly snowfall is about 129 centimetres, Kimbell said.

"We have a long way to catch up. It will take a lot... I doubt we will," he said, adding that a few big storms could change things.

When will winter really start?

While the storm hitting southern Ontario is mostly expected to be a rain event for Windsor, there's more snow on the way this weekend, Kimbell said.

"We're not so sure we'll dodge the bullet for [this] weekend ... we'll have to wait and see," he said.

As for when real January temperatures will kick in, Kimbell says that on Thursday adeep freeze is setting in the prairiesthat will make its way east.

"We should get into some real cold next week," he said.