Winter storm warning ends for Toronto
Posted December 9, 2009 2:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A miserable mixture of snow, rain and sleet led to cancelled flights in Ontario and havoc on highways as people in the province experienced a long-overdue dose of winter-like weather, Wednesday.
Snow fell across southern and central Ontario late Tuesday night, transforming into a cold sleet by Wednesday morning.
The wild weather was a nightmare for commuters, as drivers skidded into guard rails and drove into ditches.
At one point, there were more than 160 cancellations and delays (departures and arrivals) at Pearson International Airport. Many domestic flights affected included Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal. Click here to check arrivals and departures at Pearson.
In the U.S., flights were affected in New York, Boston and especially Chicago, where hundreds of flights were cancelled at O’Hare International Airport.
The weather also caused trouble for GO Transit. There were general bus delays of up to 90 minutes.
While Brampton Transit was on a severe weather plan with a 15 minute delay being reported on all routes.
On the roads, there was a lot of slush as motorists trekked through the city. But, it was a mixture of rain and snow for areas north of Highway 401, above Highway 7 and east of the city.
Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Dave Woodford told 680News drivers must leave space and go slow in conditions like that.
“So one of the things you have to do is you never speed up, and for a lot of people that’s what happens, and they end up spinning out and that’s when they’ll lose control because of their inexperience of getting out of that type of a movement,” Woodford said.
Toronto police traffic services division Const. Hugh Smith encouraged drivers to leave an hour early for their commutes.
“Those speed limits on the roads are maximums, and that is for the eight months of the year when there is really good road surface, you’re going through all those different changes, the rain, the snow, the sleet. It’s going to have an effect whether you have snow tires or not,” said Smith.
A few people told 680News that drive time increased 50 per cent on Wednesday morning because of the weather.
And according to the CAA, the wait for a tow truck was 75 minutes in most areas. Priority was given to those stranded on highways.
Peter Noehammer, the city’s manager of transportation services, said salters were out in the city. However, the plows did not come out.
“Well I think the accumulations we have right now doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Although we may start a bit of a clean-up afterwards […] just to clear some of that slush away.”
A reminder of Toronto’s snow removal process: If the city gets five centimeters, the plows will hit the main roads and plowing will continue until it stops snowing. When the snow stops and if the accumulation reaches eight centimeters, plows will be sent to the local roads.
The city will clear snow from sidewalks on local roads after eight centimeters of snow where it is mechanically possible to do so. In the core of the city, property owners are required to clear their sidewalks of snow 12 hours after a storm.
Noehammer added crews may have to open some of the catch basins to prevent any ponding or flooding.
The winter storm originated south of border where it continues to wreak havoc. At least five people have died in the U.S.
Blizzard warnings have been issued for Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Forecasters said that by the end of the week, some parts of western New York State could be buried by a meter of snow.
