Wet, slippery conditions left in wake of soggy winter storm

Motorists were in for a wet, slippery drive Friday morning after a storm that didn’t bring as much snow as expected to parts of the Greater Toronto Area.

Weather advisories and warnings have ended in the the city after a wintry mix of precipitation on Thursday made for a messy evening commute.

The day started with mixed precipitation, but as the evening hours approached the temperature dipped and earlier rain was replaced with heavy snow. Freezing rain warnings ended just before 3 p.m. in Halton and Peel and Hamilton, but a winter travel advisory remained through the evening.

Environment Canada was calling for up to 15 centimetres of snow in parts of the GTA, but residents were met with more wet rain as opposed to heavy snow.

The OPP warned drivers about a tricky drive in the wake of the storm.

“So the snow has arrived, and mysteriously tow trucks and crashed cars are now arriving at the collision reporting centres,” said OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt about the worsening road conditions due to the changing weather conditions on Thursday. “This parking lot was empty yesterday and its filled up right now.”

The snow arrived and a short time later tow trucks and crashed cars appeared at the collision reporting center…coincidence????? pic.twitter.com/dJi3T5sPxM

— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) December 15, 2022

Most school buses across the GTA were cancelled on Thursday despite schools remaining open. The Durham Student Transportation Services, which is the Durham District School Board and the Durham Catholic School Board, said buses are cancelled on Friday in Zone 1 (Brock), Zone 2 (Scugog) and Zone 3 (Uxbridge) — buses will run in Zone 4.

There was no word of any other school bus cancellations in the region for Friday.

Once again, there will be no train service on TTC’s Line 3 (Scarborough RT) on Friday due to the weather conditions. Shuttle buses are running.

Line 3 Scarborough: No service between Kennedy and McCowan due to weather conditions. Shuttle buses are running between Kennedy and McCowan.

— TTC Service Alerts (@TTCnotices) December 16, 2022

Parts of southeastern Ontario could see 10 to 20 centimetres of snow by late Saturday morning as the storm continues its path eastward.

Environment Canada has issued weather warnings for eastern regions of Ontario including Ottawa, Kingston and Smiths Falls, with periods of heavy snow continuing through tonight before easing to light flurries.

The weather agency has said another low-pressure system could make its way across Ontario late next week.

City says storm clean-up was easier than expected

The City announced its plan for clearing major roads, side streets and sidewalks before the storm moved in on Thursday. Crews began salting roadways on Wednesday evening.

“We did not have to do any plowing in Toronto itself,” said Vincent Sferrazza, the City’s director of operations and maintenance, at a news conference early Friday morning. “All the plowing operations were isolated to Scarborough, and into North York.”

“Even the Gardiner didn’t have to be plowed, our rounds of salt kept the Gardiner safe,” Sferrazza said, adding crews did do some snow removal on the ramps and bus lanes of the DVP.

City officials say expressways are plowed when two-and-a-half centimetres of snow has accumulated, major roads at five centimetres, and side streets at eight centimetres.

“Throughout the day we are now going to be in completion mode, (plowing) side roads and local roads,” Sferrazza said. “Later today, we’ll have our staff go out and patrol the roads and see if there are areas that need some further work.”

Drivers are still being urged to exercise caution and asked to give city crews plenty of room while they work to clear roadways.

With files from John Marchesan and The Canadian Press