Toronto issues extreme cold weather alert
Posted January 2, 2012 9:09 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto has issued an extreme cold weather alert to make sure homeless people are safe and to help them find shelter.
An alert is called when Environment Canada predicts a temperature of -15 C or lower without the wind chill, issues a wind-chill warning or calls for extreme weather conditions, such as a blizzard, ice storm or sudden drops in temperature.
The temperature in Toronto is expected to fall to -16 C Monday night.
“During the next 24 hours we should be dressing for windchills of -15 C to -25 C across the GTA,” 680News meteorologist Harold Hosein said. “That’s the result of the combination of the cold arctic air and the gusty northwest wind.”
Because of the alert, the city will add 172 shelter spaces, relax restrictions and hand out TTC tokens so people can get to the centres.
Also on Monday, Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for the GTA and surrounding areas because of high winds and falling temperatures.
Winds could reach 70 kilometres per hour in the GTA, and the northern areas could get as much as five centimetres of snow.
“Gusty winds may whip up the freshly fallen snow and cause sudden very low visibility in blowing snow in exposed areas,” the agency said.
“Motorists should be prepared for hazardous winter driving conditions from very low visibility in blowing snow and accumulating snow on untreated roads, especially in the regions where snow squall watches and warnings are in effect.”
Cities in the snow belt will get the brunt of the storm.
Snow squall warnings are in effect in Simcoe County and Muskoka which could have as much as 15 centimetres of snow Monday. Much of the rest of southwestern Ontario, including London and Woodstock, is under a watch.
With files from 680News
