Massive Snowstorm Slows, But GTA Hardly In The Clear

Posted December 16, 2007 12:00 pm.

This article is more than 5 years old.

The GTA sat under a winter storm warning for most of Sunday, but even once it was finally lifted late Sunday night, the more than 20 centimetres of snow and heavy gusting winds left behind promised to make for a nasty start to the workweek Monday morning.

Toronto cleanup crews were out in force most of Sunday, and officials insisted Monday’s early commute wouldn’t be that bad, though you wouldn’t know it to look at roads around the GTA in the early morning hours.

“Tomorrow the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway should be in really good shape,” promised Myles Currie, Toronto’s Director of Transportation. “The local roads and other roads will still be snow-covered, but they’ll be passable.”

Early Sunday, the almost blizzard-like storm that on Saturday promised a dumping of roughly 25 cm of snow across Southern Ontario came on with force, making its presence known in no uncertain terms.

The storm, which actually began in Texas days earlier, moved into the province overnight and dumped about five centimetres in Toronto. Areas to the southwest got even more.

But that was just the opening number in Mother Nature’s snow show. The bulk of it came down before 1pm leaving places like Toronto and Vaughan with at least 20 cm more. Those in Mississauga, Oakville, Hamilton and the Niagara Region got the worst of it, and could wind up shovelling out 30-40 cm when all is said and done on Monday morning.

According to CityNews Meteorologist Michael Kuss, the downtown core had received 20-25 cm by the dinner hour Sunday, with Hamilton area getting around 20 cm, Markham getting 23 or so and nation’s capital getting hit with as much as 30. Another centimetre or two could be added to each of those totals by the time the sun rises Monday.

To add to the misery, Environment Canada reported that the snow mixed with ice pellets at times and there were even bouts of freezing rain at points. Strong winds also whipped up nastily, leaving a bitter chill in the air that made the temperature feel more like -15 or lower.

In fact those winds promised to cause even more trouble. With plenty of fresh powder to be blown all around, the gusts could extend whiteout conditions on the roads in some places long after the snow stopped falling.

“I’ve had officers actually call me up and ask if they can shut the highways down,” said stunned Ontario Provincial Police Const. Dave Woodford Sunday afternoon. “The resources just aren’t there to shut them down.”

Getting the white stuff off your driveway won’t be easy, either. The snow isn’t quite as wet as the kind that fell on a Sunday two weeks ago, but there’s so much of it that you may have to brave the elements several times to get rid of it all. ( Snow shovelling tips)

The good news is that things aren’t quite as bad as they were in 1999, when then-Mayor Mel Lastman decided to bring in 400 Canadian troops to help clear everything away.

This time around it’s just up to the city, which has all 600 of its road snowplows and 300 sidewalk plows in operation and 165 salt trucks have been out since the lake effect flakes began on Saturday.

“I think the biggest challenge was once we finished one round of plowing the same amount of snow was there as when we started. This is the biggest storm we’ve had since the storm of ’99, that’s for sure,” Currie said.

Call (416) 338-SNOW to check the plow progress in your area. ( Toronto snow emergency route map) ( Downtown map)

The city is also pleading with citizens not to shovel snow onto the roads and not to park on the street during and after the snow emergency so their equipment can get through.

The road conditions have remained treacherous in some areas. Hundreds of traffic incidents across the GTA have already been reported, many of them were single-vehicle collisions. In Oshawa and Pickering, there were reports of snowflakes the size of golf balls.

The CAA has more than the usual number of tow trucks and call takers in its office anticipating a crunch. Be prepared for a long wait if you need them – not only are call volumes high, but getting to you is also a challenge.

Hydro officials also have extra bodies on standby. This same storm clobbered the U.S. northeast and left thousands without electricity. The power people promise to be on it as quickly as they can but repairing problems in the 60-80 kilometre an hour winds won’t be easy and they’re pleading for patience.

Hydro One also has helicopters fueled and ready to go to get into remote locations if necessary. So far, outages have been reported near Windsor and about 5,000 homes were without electricity east of Brockville.

If you had something to do Sunday, chances are it was cancelled and that could also go for scheduled events Monday. Students at York University got an extra day to study – exams scheduled for the afternoon and evening were put off. And many religious schools were closed for the day (see list below).

The Raptor game was still a go, so if you missed Toronto fall to the Celtics, there won’t be any refunds for the tickets you couldn’t use.

If you’re taking GO Transit, most trains were running up to 30 minutes behind schedule into the evening and even though delays were expected to cease by nighttime, it’s still good to check before you leave home. (Click here to view GO Transit service updates). GO also says buses will be bypassing Holland Landing, a town near Newmarket. The buses will travel via Highway 11. Passengers can board at either Newmarket or Bradford.

Staying in town? Get TTC service updates here. Buses and streetcars are running slower than usual.

Out at Pearson International Airport, delays and cancellations have been building across the board overnight. Roughly half the departures were canceled Sunday and dozens of incoming flights were also affected. Your best bet, whether you’re flying out or picking someone up is to call the airline first before heading out. (Click here for more airport flight info).

Porter Airlines has cancelled all flights for Sunday affecting travellers in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax. Passengers can rebook on available flights scheduled for Monday at no charge. (Click here to check your flight status).

As expected, police are suggesting that people stay off the roads if at all possible, particularly major routes down from cottage and ski country, namely Collingwood and Barrie.

Back in the dowtown core, the city is asking drivers to avoid parking their cars on the streets. They could get in the way of plows, or even worse, the vehicles could be missed altogether if they’re buried under a drift.

And if your only method of transportation is the bus, it’s safe to assume most routes across the GTA are running behind schedule. Numerous delays of up to 30 minutes were reported for the York Region Transit line almost all day.

All this comes with less than two weeks to go until Christmas, and about one week before winter actually starts.

The only other good news in all this is that it didn’t hit on a weekday, with millions of people trying to get to work and school. The record for a one day snowfall in December in this part of the province is in the mid-20 centimetre range set back in 1944.

And technically we dodged a bullet since what happened Sunday wasn’t really an official blizzard. That would have taken a little more wind and a little more snow – although most of us probably feel like we’ve had more than enough of both already.

CityNews Weather

Michael Kuss’s Weather Blog

CityNews Traffic

City bylaw: clear your sidewalk or face fines

City’s snow plan

Cancellations/Closures

Toronto District Catholic School Board buses are cancelled for Monday, schools remaining open.

York University: all 2pm and 7pm exams.

All Greater Toronto Hockey League games scheduled after 1pm are cancelled.

The Toronto United Menonite Church: all services and activities.

All services at Unionville Alliance church in Markham.

All classes at the downtown Toronto Jewish Community School.