The slow commute continues for motorists across Southern Ontario including the Greater Toronto Area as a nasty mix of winter weather moves through the region Tuesday.
Snow began to hit the area Monday evening with the precipitation turning into freezing rain overnight and into the morning.
Environment Canada declared in a public alert that the system was “a significant freezing rain event” as strong winds caused several widespread power outages in parts of the province overnight.
A freezing rain warning ended for most of Southern Ontario including the City of Toronto just before 5 a.m. Tuesday but remains in effect for northeastern parts of the Greater Toronto Area.
The weather office said ice accumulation could amount to between 5 to 10 millimetres when all is over.
READ MORE: Emergency preparedness kit key to surviving power outages: Toronto Hydro
The public is being advised of the hazardous weather conditions including on highways, roads, walkways and parking lots.
Motorists are also reminded to adjust their driving habits according to the changing weather conditions.
Travel Delays
The weather led to major delays and over 100 flight cancellations at Toronto’s Pearson airport.
“We are seeing the eastern seaboard as well as Montreal and Ottawa are still experiencing the storm that we saw yesterday,” said Greater Toronto Airport Authority spokesperson Siobahn Desroches.
“We’re seeing some delays and cancellations from arriving and departing for those destinations.”
Travellers are being advised to check their flight status before arriving at the airport.
Meanwhile, the icy conditions caused hundreds of minor accidents and collisions on the province’s highways including a jackknifed tractor trailer in Oakville.
The Ontario Provincial Police said Tuesday they responded to more than 300 collisions since Monday night.
The latest traffic collision numbers in Toronto reveal 100 storm-related property damages including 30 pedestrians who were struck by vehicles.
WATCH: Snow storm causes tractor trailer to jackknife on QEW
The freezing rain event coincides with a snow storm that made its way through the region early Monday evening.
The latest forecast predicted some areas received five to 10 centimetres of snow, as well as ice pellets.
“Snow begins around the GTA during the news hour and quickly becomes heavy,” said Global News Chief Meteorologist Anthony Farnell.
“There will be about 10 cm on the ground by the 11 p.m. news with a transition to ice pellets and some freezing rain overnight followed by rain showers for the morning commute with pockets of ice north and west GTA.”
Farnell said this is the same system that caused more than 40 deaths from flooding and tornadoes in the southern United States.
The system also caused blizzard conditions in western Texas over the weekend.
It will be first significant snowfall of the year for the Ontario which has so far seen unseasonably warm temperatures.
Comments