The remnants of Hurricane Beryl will arrive in the GTA overnight, with heavy downpours expected to persist well into Wednesday.
The city is currently under a special weather statement ahead of the storm.
Environment Canada says that while it is still difficult to pinpoint the exact track of the system, rainfall amounts could surpass 50 millimetres in some locations with “torrential downpours” possible at times.
“It looks like the heaviest rain will be in the Lake Huron area and Eastern Ontario but we could pick up 20 to 40 mm of rain in a very short period of time (in the GTA) and that will cause some localized ponding and flooding,” CP24 Meteorologist Bill Coulter warned on Tuesday morning. “So be aware of that tomorrow morning and maybe give yourself some extra time. By the time Thursday is done the whole system and the cloud goes with it, setting up a really nice weekend. The challenge will just be dealing with it, mostly tomorrow morning.”
Beryl made landfall in Texas as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday after leaving a path of destruction in the Caribbean over the weekend.
The storm has weekend significantly since making landfall and Coulter said that by the time it arrives in Ontario it will be mostly just be a rain event.
“As it gets caught up in the jet stream it loses some of its tropical characteristics, the circular shape, and it is being more stretched out as it flows up the Ohio River Valley and right into the lower Great Lakes region,” he said. “It will arrive around 1 a.m. overnight and because it has been stretched out there is quite a long period of some heavy rain. Most of that will come after midnight tonight, through the morning rush and into mid-day.”
Environment Canada says that the heaviest bands of rain tonight and tomorrow could total 20 to 40 millimetres per hour.
Toronto remains under a heat warning for the time being with the temperature expected to reach 30 C today and feel closer to 38 with the humidity. However, the storm will bring cooler temperatures with a high of 23 C in the forecast for tomorrow.