Rain and warm temperatures are the order of the day today across most of the province, but things are about to change.

A deep freeze is coming, with cold air being drawn down from the north as winds switch to the west and northwest according to Environment Canada meteorologist Jim Prime.

“Right now, around the St. John’s area it’s normal to have highs around 4 degrees and lows around minus 3, but over the weekend we could get to minus 11on Saturday night. So, expect unseasonably cold weather just with that cold air mass that’s going to be pulling down over the province.”

Prime is not expecting a flash freeze but warns there may be ice where water and snowmelt pools on the pavement.

He says it’s not unusual to see wild fluctuations in temperature this time of year. Another warm-up is expected next week before the temperature drops again.

“There is another system that’s going to be coming mid-week…not as strong as what we have with this system that’s going through today. So we will be getting some snow and maybe even some mixed precipitation, but it is much weaker. So we’re not expecting much in the way of significant accumulations. It’s just going to give us a little bit of a break from these colder temperatures before it passes through and then things dip down again towards the end of the week.”