Environment Canada issues weather alert for Toronto as heavy rain batters the city

It's a fine day outside in Toronto for worms and thirsty plants, but humans may want to hunker down indoors if they want to avoid getting soaked.

A special weather statement is currently in effect for Canada's largest city as heavy rains threaten to leave behind more than 50 mm of precipitation, potentially resulting in localized flooding (though nothing as severe as the historically-insane floods we experienced on this date in 2013).

"Showers and thunderstorms are forecast to move across the area today. Some of these showers and thunderstorms will be capable of producing locally heavy rainfall amounts of 30 to 50 mm," warns Environment Canada. "Isolated amounts exceeding 50 mm will also be possible in some locations."

Every single region in Southern Ontario is under some form of weather alert as of noon on Thursday due to rain, and things are expected to remain soggy for at least the next 24 hours.

Fortunately, temperatures are expected to bounce back a bit from the current 16 C to reach the low 20s again by Friday afternoon and continue rising from there.

Image via Environment Canada.

"Thursday will continue to be chilly, with temperatures remaining in the teens from cottage country to eastern Ontario, stretching into most of southern Quebec as well," writes the Weather Network.

"Similar to Wednesday, there will be more showers and thunderstorms across the region, as the surface low tracks through the Great Lakes, with rain chances lingering into the evening and overnight hours."

Showers and thunderstorms will linger through much of Friday in Ontario, according to meteorologists, posing problems in southern parts of the province where, "with the ground saturated, the runoff may result in localized flooding."

We'll get a brief reprieve from the gloom when sunny skies emerge on Saturday, but Toronto is otherwise expected to stay pretty wet for the foreseeable future.

"Most of southern Ontario can expect abundant sunshine and pleasant conditions for the start of the week on Saturday," notes the Weather Network. "The threat for thunderstorms will return next week, accompanied by near seasonal temperatures."