Thunder Bay – WEATHER DESK – If you are planning travel, a good idea for today would be checking www.511on.ca for the latest conditions.
Northwestern Ontario is dealing with a messy late-season system today, with mixed precipitation in the west and heavier snow near Lake Superior.
Environment Canada’s Saturday bulletins show snow, ice pellets, wet snow and freezing-rain risk from Kenora east to Thunder Bay, with 5 to 15 cm most likely from Upsala through Thunder Bay, Cloud Bay-Dorion, Nipigon-Rossport, Marathon-Schreiber and Wawa-Pukaskwa Park.
At this hour, Ontario 511’s Northwestern page showed no reported regional emergency. In this browsing view,
On Highway 17 from Kenora through Dryden and Ignace, Saturday is a mixed-precipitation travel day. Kenora is forecast for 2 to 4 cm of snow and ice pellets with a freezing-rain risk and temperatures near zero.
Dryden is also looking at 2 to 4 cm with freezing-rain risk, while Ignace is expected to see snow mixed with ice pellets, then a colder night near -9 C.
Sioux Lookout, feeding into the broader northwest travel picture, is in a more winter-like setup with 5 to 10 cm of snow, a risk of freezing drizzle late in the day, and a low near -11 C Saturday night. That points to slushy and icy patches west of Thunder Bay, with steadier snow farther north and inland.
On Highway 11 from Fort Frances through Atikokan toward Thunder Bay, conditions look especially changeable. Fort Frances is forecast to see rain mixed with wet snow ending near noon, then lingering showers, with a freezing-rain risk and a high of +3 C.
Atikokan starts with snow or ice pellets, changes to rain near noon, and keeps a freezing-rain risk into the evening before temperatures fall to -7 C.
Farther east, the Upsala-Raith stretch is forecast for 5 to 10 cm of snow and ice pellets with freezing-rain risk, while Thunder Bay and Cloud Bay-Dorion are in the heaviest part of the system, with 5 to 10 cm in the updated city forecast and 10 to 15 cm in the morning bulletin for Cloud Bay-Dorion.
That makes the Atikokan-to-Thunder Bay run the corridor most likely to swing from wet pavement to slush to icy sections as temperatures fall.
East of Thunder Bay on Highway 17, the North Shore is back in winter mode. Nipigon-Rossport is forecast for about 10 cm of snow Saturday, Marathon-Schreiber for 5 to 10 cm, and Wawa-Pukaskwa Park for another 5 to 10 cm before colder air settles in Saturday night and Sunday.
Separate local forecasts for Schreiber and Terrace Bay point to cloudy skies with a 70 percent chance of snow Saturday and highs near +2 C in Schreiber and 0 C in Terrace Bay, so travel through Terrace Bay, Schreiber and toward Marathon will likely stay snowy or slushy through much of the day.
For Highway 11 north and northeast of Nipigon toward Beardmore and Geraldton, the snow signal is also strong. Beardmore-Jellicoe-Macdiarmid is forecast for about 10 cm Saturday, while Geraldton-Longlac-Caramat is forecast for 5 to 10 cm with a high near -2 C, then a colder Saturday night near -13 C and a Sunday high around -6 C.
That makes the Nipigon-to-Geraldton branch one of the tougher inland drives in the region, with accumulating snow followed by colder air that will preserve slick sections.
On the alert side, the clearest verified problem areas are Thunder Bay, Nipigon-Rossport and Wawa-Pukaskwa Park.
Thunder Bay’s Special Weather Statement warns of 5 to 12 cm of snow Saturday, reduced visibility and possible freezing rain near the western shore of Lake Superior. Nipigon-Rossport also has a Special Weather Statement calling for 5 to 12 cm and reduced visibility, with locally higher amounts possible north of Lake Superior. In the direct alert results we could verify, Kenora-Grassy Narrows-Whitedog, Dryden-Vermilion Bay, Ignace-English River, Fort Frances-Emo-Rainy River, Atikokan-Shebandowan-Quetico Park, Geraldton-Longlac-Caramat and Marathon-Schreiber were showing no alerts in effect.
The travel takeaway is simple: the farther east you go toward Thunder Bay, Nipigon, Terrace Bay, Schreiber and Wawa, the more likely you are to run into accumulating snow and reduced visibility; the farther west you go toward Kenora and Fort Frances, the bigger issue is mixed precipitation and localized icing rather than deep accumulation.
Give yourself extra time, expect rapidly changing pavement conditions around Atikokan, Upsala, Thunder Bay and the North Shore, and check Ontario 511 again just before departure.
