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Scattered lake effect snow east of Lake Huron has continued to impact portions of Grey, Bruce, Huron and Perth counties throughout the day on Wednesday. While snowfall rates have not been particularly intense, localized blowing snow has created pockets of reduced visibility, especially on exposed rural routes.

This activity is expected to persist overnight and into Thursday morning. However, significant additional accumulation is not anticipated, with most areas seeing only light to moderate snowfall.

Even without heavy new snowfall, the combination of existing snow on the ground and gusty winds could still create locally treacherous travel conditions in parts of the Lake Huron snowbelt. Because of this, there remains a chance that a few school boards may opt to cancel buses on Thursday morning.

The strongest probability is focused on southern Bruce County within the Bluewater District School Board and northern Huron County under the Avon Maitland District School Board. These areas are most exposed to Lake Huron and are more susceptible to blowing and drifting snow. We have assigned these regions a 50 percent chance of school bus cancellations. With no major accumulation expected, the final decision will likely hinge on how intense the blowing snow is during the early morning hours. Current forecasts suggest winds may begin to ease overnight, which keeps this scenario uncertain.

The remainder of the Avon Maitland District School Board, along with central Bruce County and southern Grey County within the Bluewater District School Board, has been assigned a slight 25 percent chance. While some localized blowing snow may occur, confidence is higher that buses will be able to operate normally in these regions, given that they are outside the most intense snowfall bands tonight.

Outside of the Lake Huron shoreline and adjacent snowbelt areas, no impactful winter weather is expected on Thursday. As a result, school bus cancellations are unlikely across the rest of Southern Ontario.

Disclaimer: Instant Weather has zero authority when it comes to bus and school closures.

It is completely up to the school boards, bus companies, local authorities, and parents to decide what is best for their children. This is our best guess based on our forecast.