Large parts of the Greater Toronto Area were hit by intense snow Thursday afternoon causing traffic delays across the region.
“It’s a massive snow squall. It stretches close to 1,000 kilometres across the Great Lakes and it’s basically moving west across the GTA dropping heavy amounts of snow – five to 10 centimetres as it moves through,” Global News meteorologist Ross Hull said Thursday afternoon.
“The other dangerous part of this is just the combination of the wind and the snow.”
READ MORE: Environment Canada issues winter travel advisory for Greater Toronto Area
Hull said the snow should taper off in Toronto during the evening rush hour, but it will be moving to the western part of the GTA and those communities could see snowfall until 10 or 11 p.m.
Hull noted these squalls are separate from a larger weather system that will bring more snowfall starting Friday evening.
A Toronto police spokesman told Global News Thursday afternoon that officers were seeing increased calls for slippery roads.
OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt, who was travelling on Highway 400 when reached Thursday afternoon, described his commute as “treacherous.” He said OPP officers were responding to calls across the GTA.
Pearson and Billy Bishop airports are reporting delays.
GO Transit spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins said GO buses were experiencing delays of around an hour. There were also a few train delays as of Thursday evening.
The TTC reported it is experiencing delays due to the snow:
The following closures were put in place due to the weather:
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