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A 500-km ‘super snow squall’ builds in southern Ontario Saturday

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It’ll be the snow squall that keeps going, and going.

A powerful lake-effect snow event will continue across southern Ontario heading into the weekend, with multiple intense squalls continuing across the region as the sun rises on Saturday. We may even see one or more ‘super snow squalls’ that measure 500+ km in length.

MUST SEE: Buried: Why the Great Lakes produce some of the world’s heaviest snow

Not everyone will see heavy snowfall, but those who do are in for a rough go of it as wicked snowfall rates produce near-zero visibility and challenge road crews to keep thoroughfares clear for any appreciable amount of time.

“Snow squalls cause weather conditions to vary considerably,” says Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) in a snow squall warning issued Friday. “Changes from clear skies to heavy snow within just a few kilometres are common.”

STAY SAFE: The do’s and don’ts of shovelling snow

This is already an event for the record books for folks south of the border. The U.S. National Weather Service office in Buffalo, New York, reported that Orchard Park, a town south of Buffalo, had seen 167 cm (66 in) of snow as of Friday evening, and the squall would continue ripping into the night.

If verified, that would beat the highest total in the legendary lake-effect snowstorm that occurred eight years ago this week.

WATCH: ‘Thunder-snowstorm’ dumps incredible amount of powder in N.Y.

The event is far from over for southern Ontario. Due to the nature of lake-effect snow, storm totals will vary widely over short distances and between one community and another.

We’re on track to see an additional 30-60 cm of snow across the Bruce Peninsula and northern sections of cottage country through Sunday as a particularly intense squall continues over Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.

Another snow squall over Lake Ontario will bring significant snows to portions of eastern Ontario, with 15-30 cm of additional snowfall possible through the weekend along the 401 from Cobourg to Kingston.

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Farther south, the same squall burying the Buffalo metro area will drift north and begin dropping heavy snow across the Niagara region. Widespread snowfall totals of 15-30 cm are likely across the northern Erie shores, with even higher totals possible south of Niagara Falls toward Fort Erie.

The orientation of the winds will keep most of the snow away from the Greater Toronto Area, with less than 5 cm possible across the area through the weekend.

MUST SEE: Epic thundersnow captured amid ‘electrically active’ snow squall

Much of this additional heavy snow will fall in extra-long snow squalls that could measure 500+ km in length at times on Saturday. Why is this happening? It’s all in the winds.

Lake-effect snow forms when cold winds blow over the warm lakes. These intense snow squalls develop when the wind achieves a long fetch, or spends a lot of distance blowing over the water.

Sometimes, though, the winds align just right so that they blow over a very long length of Lakes Erie and Ontario combined—and also over Lake Huron and Georgian Bay together—to create a pair of very long snow squalls. This is the setup we’re likely going to see build on Saturday.

WATCH: Powerful Buffalo squalls put into perspective as car completely buried

Stay tuned to The Weather Network as we monitor this developing lake-effect snow event.

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