‘Godzilla’-Like Storm Expected To Stomp GTA With Heavy Snow
Posted January 31, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
If the snow storm forecasters are expecting to hit the city on Friday were a horror movie, it might just be Godzilla. They expect the monster to stomp all over southern Ontario and the Toronto area will be one of its certain victims.
Environment Canada has issued a winter storm warning for most of the province as the worst edges ever closer. What can you expect? A mix of freezing rain and lots of snow, with anywhere from 5-20 centimetres on the ground. But if things go off track, those totals could escalate to as high as 30.
The best guess appears to be 1-3 centimetres starting around 4am. Another 5-10 will be down through the morning. The evening could see a mix of snow and freezing rain as temperatures stay around the 1C mark all day. And we could get yet another 10cm as a finale before it finally blows itself over.
And blowing over may be a problem. Winds are expected to add to the misery, gusting as high as 50 kilometres an hour at times, scattering many of those frosted flakes around and creating the potential for white-out conditions.
It’s all being caused by a massive Colorado low that actually started heading this way on Thursday. It’s been picking up moisture as it approaches and it’s already left a swath of havoc across Texas and other states. Not even the pros can quite prepare when Mother Nature makes her own plans. CityNews meteorologist Michael Kuss is stuck in Chicago, as the system moves through there, grounding flights back to Toronto.
“I can’t even get to the airport,” he explains. “You think the traffic in Toronto is bad when you get a little dusting of snow? We’ve been in the car for an hour driving from downtown to O’Hare. Probably about 3, maybe 4 centimetres on the ground so far … They’ll probably get 15 to 20 centimetres in Chicago … And then that band’s going to shoot up … and then work up almost into central Ontario across the northern sections of the G.T.A.”
Unfortunately, it won’t need a passport to cross the border and it’s expected to arrive here as early as 4am Friday morning, making for a miserable morning drive and something far worse by the time you go home.
The city is prepared for the onslaught, readying its 200 salters, 600 road plows and 300 sidewalk cleaners. All 1,700 of the city’s staff are on standby and all of them will be working at some point during the winter howler.
“During the week, we’ve topped up all our salt supplies,” confirms Myles Currie of Toronto Transportation Services. “Our equipment’s been serviced. It’s ready to go. Our plows have been tested. Our salters are tested, and the staff is well rested. They’re ready for the snow on Friday.”
And when Currie talks about topping up, that’s an understatement. The city will use 10,000-12,000 tons of salt to keep the streets as passable as possible. Not that you should expect them to be clear.
“Initially we’ll start with a heavy salting operation. We’ll focus on the expressways and our main arterial roads and move into the local streets. Once we see some accumulation, we’ll start our plowing operation right after that.” His crews are also prepared in case it changes over to freezing rain.
And he expects the clean-up to take at least two or three days. “The staff are quite excited,” he laughs. “It’s been a few weeks since the last plowing operation.”
How can you help them? Keep your cars off the street so they have room to get their equipment through.
Homeowners like Paul Hoffman is ready to help. “It’s going to be a real doozer,” he predicts. “I’ve got my snowblower all set in the garage, and as soon as it starts coming down, about two hours later, I’m going to clear the driveway off.”
He’ll likely be doing that several times before the end of the day. All that work will allow him to get on the roads, but what he’ll find there is another matter. They’re expected to be treacherous and slippery and police are already pleading with commuters to drive according to the conditions, leave early or stay home if possible.
The last few snow events haven’t been anywhere near as severe as this one threatens to be but there was still terrible carnage on the highways, including massive pile-ups and more than 500 accidents in white-outs on the 401 in less than 24 hours.
That was just over a week ago and cops are hopeful it won’t happen again. Just about all OPP officers have had their days off cancelled, and there will extra enforcement on the highways to help out stranded motorists or stop those who refuse to slow down.
You’ll be shoveling out from the massive mess on the weekend, but at least you’ll have the calm after the storm to do it. Saturday should dawn with mostly cloudy conditions, but the only major snow you’re likely to see that day is on your driveway.
But keep that equipment handy. While it won’t be anything like Friday’s big blow, the long range forecast calls for more snow every day from Monday at least through to Wednesday of next week.
The good news in all this is that Godzilla is always defeated at the end of every movie. The bad news is that there’s been an endless number of sequels – and the first day of spring doesn’t come this year until March 20 th.
- Breakfast Television will be on the air 30 minutes earlier than normal on Friday morning, starting at 5:30am, to keep you informed of what’s happening on the roads and any school or bus cancellations. You’ll find closures listed here.
Cops brace for storm accidents
What To Expect
The city’s money saving plan on snow removal goes out the window when these kinds of storms hit. But don’t expect anything to go quickly when Mother Nature takes over. There are 5,300 kilometres of roads to get through, 7,100 kilometres of sidewalks to dust off and at least 530 bridges to clean.
The order
Snow Starts: Salters take to the main streets and expressways to try and keep them as clear as possible.
5 centimetres on ground: Plows don’t go out until at least that much has fallen. They only head for the main drags, which means your side streets will have to wait.
5-8 centimetres: Collector roads, bus routes and local streets with hills get the next go-round.
8 centimetres or more: Plows finally start to get to your local streets.
Side streets: The city will only promise they’ll ‘get to you’ after all the main routes are attended to. So getting out onto them may be the biggest challenge. It takes between 15-20 hours to get to your little bit of hidden heaven plowed and most will only come after the snow stops falling. If they’re not done 24 hours after the snow stops, you can call the city at (416) 338-SNOW (7669) for more information. That number will also let you check on the plows’ progress.
Sidewalks:
Source: City of Toronto
How To Prepare
Make sure your car is filled up with gas. A full tank assures you won’t run out if you get stuck in a huge back-up.
Top up your fluids. You’ll never use quite so much washer fluid as you will during one of these.
Get your shovel ready. Sounds like a strange suggestion but it’s not. If your dig-out device is in your garage, you have to be able to get to it. Consider bringing it somewhere right by your door.
Stock up: You may not be able to get out of your house for a day or two if we get really walloped. So consider heading to the grocery store before the storm arrives to stock up in case you get stranded. And don’t forget it’s about more than food. Grab some extra salt or ice melter while you’re there.
Don’t Over Shovel: Especially if you’re not used to it. This storm is bringing the worst of everything – including the heavy, wet kind of flakes that are hard to get rid of and winds that bring back what you just cleared away. Don’t over exert yourself while you’re cleaning everything off. Take frequent breaks, even if it takes you a little longer. Every winter, some people always seem to overdo and have heart attacks that in the past have proven fatal. But even those who survive cardiac events are in trouble – it can take paramedics a lot longer to reach you when the roads are filled with snow and cars going nowhere.
Contacts and Websites
We’ll be reposting these on Friday, but here are some references to bookmark for the coming storm.
TTC service disruption advisories
Updates on plows
(416) 338-SNOW
Seniors/Disabled Free Sidewalk Clearing (City of Toronto only)
(416) 416-392-7768
