Toronto, GTA blanketed by significant spring snowstorm

GTA residents said farewell to winter and hello to spring earlier this week, but Mother Nature had other plans in mind as upwards of 20 cm of snow fell in Toronto from Friday into Saturday morning.

Scarborough and North York saw 18 centimetres of snow, according to Environment Canada – the highest totals in the GTA – while Whitby saw a total of 19 centimetres

The National Weather Service had said peak snowfall rates of two centimetres per hour were possible at the height of the storm.

Pearson International Airport reported almost 12 centimetres of accumulation – almost double the total for March (6.6 cm) and a third more than in all of February’s (8.2 cm). Airport officials say only six per cent of scheduled flights – 58 in total – were canceled by the airlines on Friday.

Prior to Friday’s storm Toronto had only seen 30.2 centimetres of snow from December until the start of March.

The TTC had temporarily taken 56 bus stops known to be in tricky spots out of service on Friday afternoon. Service has since been restored to all routes.

The city says plowing of major arteries and residential streets will continue and residents can check the real-time locations of salters and plows here.

The return to wintry weather in the first days of spring follows warmer-than-usual temperatures last week, with daytime highs surpassing 20 C in Toronto.

With files from Jaime Pulfer of CityNews 680