Chatham-Kent residents are in for a dark and stormy night.
A cold front is tracking across southwestern Ontario, bringing as much as 45mm of rain is heading towards the region with winds gusting between 70 and 90 kilometers an hour at times.
Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement, with officials warning of the possibility of local power outages and flash flooding into tomorrow afternoon.
The temperature is expected to drop quite quickly on Saturday night, with rain changing to light snow.
Meantime, the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority has issued a flood watch.
Because of high lake levels, officials say there is the risk of strong waves that could damage shoreline protection works and cause erosion all along the high bluff areas along the Lake Erie shoreline, and at times Rondeau Bay and eastern Lake St. Clair.
On the Thames River, officials expect to operate the McGregor Creek Diversion Channel Saturday morning to prevent flooding in the south end of the city of Chatham.
Flooding of the low-lying river flats along the Thames from Delaware down to Thamesville should be expected. In Chatham, sidewalks along the river downtown would be expected to flood over. Water levels are expected to peak in upstream areas around Delaware on Sunday and work their way downstream over the next few days.
