Slippery When Wet: Winter’s Worst Over After Tricky Trip Home
Posted December 11, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
If Tuesday was a song, it might be Paul Simon’s ” Slip Sliding Away.” The tune was the perfect theme for those heading home in the afternoon, after winter’s wrath left the streets a slippery and slushy mess.
The fall began just after noon, when quickly changing conditions led first to snow, then freezing rain, ice pellets and finally just rain depending on where you were. The core mostly got plain rain, and while streets were slick they were passable. It was very different up north, where below freezing temperatures led to icy droplets and slushy snow, making for a slippery evening commute.
There were scores of accidents as drivers left the wet but rainy confines of the downtown area and hit the slick streets – and the skids – up the road. The OPP estimates there was at least a problem a minute from the north end of the GTA all the way up to Barrie for a time.
On Highway 407 and 27, a car spun out on the pavement due to slippery conditions. Another vehicle went into the ditch at the 407 and Yonge St. And a van slid under a truck at Carrier Drive and Highway 27. Fortunately, there were just minor injuries in all the incidents, including the one Paul Goudsmit ran into during his trip home.
“I guess we hit a slushy, bad or an icy bit, and the car decided to slide on us, and we ended up in a guardrail,” he shrugs. The slush that accompanied the rain quickly turned the roads into skating rinks. “And they hit that slush and like hydroplaning and lose control, into the guardrail they go,” explains OPP Cst. Dave Woodward.
Goudsmit is happy no one was hurt in his mishap of misery. “Both the wife and I are just fine,” he assures. “We had seat belts and air bags deployed, and, you know, a bit of metal’s damp, but we’re good.”
And it appears the worst is over. Temperatures are staying on the plus side until late in the evening, meaning Toronto will continue to get just rain and maybe a very slight dusting of snow. Those up north could see a few more flakes but not enough to really worry about. The only hazard: the possibility all that dampness could create icy passages for your morning commute as things cool off again.
This is the tail end of a huge system that stretches all the way to Texas. It brought big problems to the U.S., battering the Plains states and leaving hundreds of thousands in the dark and cold without power. Many will stay that way until late in the week. At least 18 people are dead in Oklahoma and Missouri as a result of the conditions – 15 from storm-related traffic accidents.
Ice accumulations of up to half an inch put a slippery glaze on everything across the American mid-west, including tree branches and hydro lines, and power outages were a hazard over a large number of states.
Anyone travelling south should check with their airline to make sure their flight is still on. Many have already been cancelled in the wake of the icy finger of Old Man Winter, who has left few places untouched this year.
Read Michael Kuss’ latest blog
How to drive in these conditions
