Say it ain't snow! Up to 10 cm possible as winter rears its head for late April storm

There's snow on the way for Hamilton.

A spring storm is expected to bring five to 10 centimetres of snow to the city overnight Tuesday.

Environment Canada is calling for the snowfall in areas from Hamilton, London, Niagara, Brantford, Burlington and into the GTA.

You can expect a messy commute Wednesday morning.

The national weather forecaster said the heavy snow was expected to end around noon on Wednesday before settling into flurries amounting to about two to four cm of more snow by the afternoon. They are calling for Wednesday's high to be plus 4 but with a wind chill feeling like minus 5 in the morning.

Don't worry about your garden during a spring snow storm says Hamilton Spectator garden columnist Rob Howard.

Cold won't hurt anything this time of year," said Howard.

His advice if you want to keep the snow from crushing the flowers stalks of your tulips and daffodils is to cover them up tonight using cardboard boxes or pails. Perennials can handle the cold and snow this time of year but you don't want them crushed by the weight of the snow. If you are worried about perennials, cover them with mulch.

He added that new growth on evergreens can break easily under the weight of wet snow so the best thing to do for them is to go out and knock the snow off tender branches as the snow falls.

According to Environment Canada, the most snow on the ground for April 21 was 4.0 cm in 1978.

Jennifer Moore is an editorial assistant at The Spectator in Hamilton. Reach her via email: jmoore@thespec.com