If you're not a fan of winter and you haven't looked outside your window yet this morning, you may not want to, because the beginnings of a spate of snowy days is upon us in Toronto.

Along with the extreme cold weather alert issued for the city on Thursday ahead of Friday morning's - 13 C temps that feel more like - 21 C with the wind chill is a forecast for some lake effect snow for Southern Ontario.

GTHA residents living closer to the Hamilton region out toward Niagara and St. Catharines can expect 5-10 cm of the white stuff amid subzero temps today.

The weather will move into Toronto by Saturday, bringing about the same 5-10 cm amount to the downtown core, though the Weather Network notes that "localized snow totals of 10-20 cm are possible near the west end of Lake Ontario due to the band of lake-effect snow."

Meteorologists are also anticipating a potential full-on snowstorm in the early days of next week, though it's a bit too early to tell at this point.

Light snow Friday; A dusting to 2cm for most of the GTA but a band of lake effect snow will meander between Burlington & Vineland; Localized totals 5-10+cm; Snow Sat. PM & night; 5-10 cm most of the GTA, but locally 10-20cm near west end of Lake Ontario due to lake enhancement pic.twitter.com/wOgQDIhDFE

— Doug Gillham (@gtaweather1) February 12, 2021

Currently, scattered flurries are forecasted for the city on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday — good news for those hoping to hit the slopes at places like Blue Mountain, which will finally reopen to the public on Feb. 16, though areas north of the GTA may see less snow than the city proper.

Unfortunately, temperatures will not be getting any warmer anytime soon, with the weather authority citing some "dangerously cold" conditions that will continue to feel in the negative double digits with the wind chill for the foreseeable future.

The coldest day of the next seven will be Monday at -8 C with a wind chill of -15 C, so if you plan on getting outside and enjoy the fresh blanket of snowfall, you'll want to bundle up and keep your outings short.

And, residents can certainly expect some messy commutes over the next few days.