Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for Hamilton warning to expect heavy rain from this evening through Friday.
The statement, issued on Thursday at 10:46 a.m., says a low pressure system is expected to deliver heavy rainfall in parts of southwestern Ontario and the Golden Horseshoe. The statement says to expect rainfall amounts of 25 to 50 millimetres.
Environment Canada meteorologist Steven Flisfeder said the weather statement for the Golden Horseshoe isn’t directly linked to the remnants of tropical storm Debby, which made second landfall in South Carolina.
However, Flisfeder said the moisture from Debby will merge with an “upper-level atmospheric feature” that is coming from the upper Great Lakes over southwestern Ontario.
“It’s going to give a period of high rainfall rates and heavy downpours across the Golden Horseshoe,” he said.
Flisfeder said the rainfall amounts could be updated as it starts to rain.
Environment Canada has also issued rainfall warnings for eastern Ontario and western Quebec starting Thursday night, with rainfall amounts of 50 to 75 millimetres being expected across the region. The warning says the rain will be caused by a low pressure system interacting with the remnants of tropical storm Debby.
Debby made second landfall in South Carolina after it first made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on the Gulf Coast of Florida. The storm has killed at least six people.
The storm is expected to keep moving inland, spreading heavy rain and possible flooding all the way up through the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast by the weekend.
Last month, the remnants of Hurricane Beryl brought heavy rainfall to Hamilton and surrounding areas.
Flisfeder said Beryl’s track was more directly over southern Ontario, which felt “almost the full potential impact of Beryl itself as it was making its way across the region.”
As Debby’s track is further east, Flisfeder said there is less potential for high rainfall amounts. But because of the storm interacting with the feature coming off the Great Lakes, he said there is still the potential for higher impacts with heavier rainfall amounts.