Environment Canada has issued a blizzard warning for London and surrounding areas as a major winter storm continues to sweep southwestern Ontario.
Blizzard conditions with wind gusts of 90 to 100 km/h are expected. Snowfall amounts of five to 15 centimetres are also expected by Saturday morning.
Environment Canada is warning of whiteout conditions on roads, strongly advising drivers to avoid all unnecessary travel. Road crews in London were out in full force Friday morning in an effort to reduce hazardous driving conditions in the city.
“Our 28 salt trucks were deployed around 3 a.m. and they’ve been out treating main roads and bus routes,” said John Parsons, road operations division manager for the City of London, about efforts to deal with flash freezing on Friday morning.
“We also have deployed our 48 sidewalk units and they’re out sanding sidewalks right now.”
Parsons said they were anticipating more equipement to be used as the day continued.
“We’re monitoring the weather road conditions, and we have more equipment to add as the accumulation increases,” he said. “I also want to note that there’s an overnight parking ban, so we’ve suspended on-street parking this evening.”
Road crews report that weather conditions have been “pretty much as expected” in regard to Environment Canada’s ongoing winter storm warning for the region heading into the holiday weekend.
Due to strong winds and blowing snow, Parsons said that drivers are having to take their time and ask for the community’s patience as they continue to navigate through the severe weather conditions.
“The system looks like it’s going to stay with us into the early morning hours of Saturday,” he said.
Wind gusts are expected to reach up to 100 km/h, creating widespread blowing snow “which will significantly reduce visibility” with wind chills dropping the temperature down to the -20 range, Environment Canada reports.
On Thursday, the Middlesex London Health Unit issued a cold weather alert for the London region set to remain in effect until Sunday.
In response, the City of London initiated its extreme temperature protocol and opened the following community centres as warming centres heading into the weekend:
- Stronach Arena located at 1221 Sanford St. (9:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.)
- Medway Arena located at 119 Sherwood Forest Square (7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.)
- Earl Nichols Arena located at 799 Homeview Rd. (8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.)
Additionally, all London Public Library locations an inviting Londoners to stay warm during their regular hours of operation. Most locations are open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
While a predicted white Christmas is ahead, weather officials continue to advise residents to “consider postponing non-essential travel until conditions improve.”
On Thursday, WestJet announced that the airline would be cancelling flights out of B.C. and Ontario due to “extreme weather events.”
In light of recent flight cancellations, the London International Airport is reminding travellers to confirm their flight status before arriving at the terminal.
For more information about extreme cold, check out the Middlesex London Health Unit website.
For more information and the latest snow removal updates, check out london.ca/snow.
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