Spring storm aftermath: Heavy winds uproot tree in Victoria Harbour

Some residents were left grappling with the aftermath of a spring storm on Tuesday as high winds and heavy rain battered the region, even uprooting a tree on a property in Victoria Harbour.

"Looking out the kitchen window, we noticed that large spruce tree had a bit of a lean to it, and we watched it throughout the evening, and it started leaning over and over and over," said Jim Reichheld. "It will be a big job. We have to pull it off that tree, and hopefully not make any damage to our bunkies or trailers. Clean it up and carry on."

The storm also caused power outages across Simcoe County and Muskoka, with many still in the dark on Wednesday.

The winds subsided by Wednesday morning, but heavy rain soon hit.

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The wet weather is expected to continue into the night, with a chance of snow in the forecast for Thursday.

Environment Canada's senior climatologist David Phillips noted the Barrie area has never had an April without snow. "It's sort of what we call a Colorado low but a lot of weather associated with it because it's got some cold air to the north warm air to the south. We could see up to 20, maybe 40 millimetres of rain in the Lake Simcoe area. That's half a month's worth of rain for April, so it's a good heavy soak."

Motorists in Barrie will need to be extra cautious because road crews are unable to lay salt or brine with the rain ready to wash it away.

"We'll be watching the weather and patrolling the roads to see when that rain actually turns to snow and if we get enough accumulation to bring in our drivers and operators," shared Craig Morton with the City of Barrie.

Despite the erratic weather, some residents, like Josh Popov, have come to expect such fluctuations.

"Spring weather is weird, just strange weather conditions all throughout. It seems every time I go on the weather app, it's always changing what's happening," he said.

Meanwhile, Phillips reminds residents to be prepared for the possibility of overnight snowfall that could impact the morning commute.