Cluster of 'fast-moving' thunderstorms likely to hit parts of Ontario

A cluster of thunderstorms could hit southwestern Ontario Monday night, bringing potentially damaging winds and rain to the area.

Steven Flisfeder, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, told CTV News Toronto that forecasters are monitoring multiple thunderstorms making their way through the Midwest United States and heading towards the border.

“There's a lot of potential for them to reorganize into this complex of storms that could give some pretty damaging winds to southwestern Ontario depending on the track,” he said.

The storms have the potential to become what’s called a mesoscale convective system (MCS), which Flisfeder describes as “a large area of thunderstorms that will produce damaging straight line winds.” Unlike a tornado, which is highly localized and comprised of rotating winds, the winds in a MCS are very intense and head in a single direction.

An MCS is a fast-moving system, Flisfeder added, and can have a similar intensity to the deadly storm that struck central and northern Ontario in late May.

“It's a cluster of storms, all combined in a wider area, but it is all just a thunderstorm,” he said, adding that lightening and heavy rainfall is also possible.

Flisfeder said that models currently show the storm hitting no further north than the London area, meaning the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area will likely be spared, although he notes it’s not “impossible.”

As of Monday afternoon, forecasters say the storm will likely hit around 8 p.m. and last overnight, but experts also say that tracking a fast-moving system such as this is difficult.

“Unfortunately, it's wait and monitor, and as forecasters become more confident with the direction and intensity of that storm, they'll likely issue severe thunderstorm watches.”

Filsfeder is urging residents in southwestern Ontario to pay close attention to those watches and warnings issued by Environment Canada.

There is a 40 per cent chance of showers in Toronto for Tuesday evening; however after that, the rest of the day is forecast to be sunny, with the temperature feeling like 28 C with the humidex.