Toronto got an early blast of winter on Sunday to start November, and broke a pair of decades-old weather records in the process.
Environment Canada said 9.8 centimetres of snow fell in Toronto on Nov. 9, with more accumulation observed early Monday morning.
The storm marks the highest two-day snowfall total the city has seen this early in the year since October 21 and 22, 1981 (when 6 cm fell), and the snowiest Nov. 9 on record in 54 years.
“A very rare event for this much snow to fall this early in the Toronto area,” Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson told CTV News Toronto.
Coulson explained that, for this date in history, the most snow the city has ever seen on the ground was in 1971, when 1.5 centimetres of snow fell.
“So, it’s not unheard of that the Toronto area can get snowfall in early November. But certainly, this much falling on this exact date of November 9 hadn’t happened before at Pearson International Airport,” he said, referring to the site where Environment Canada collects its weather data for the city.
The snowfall was widespread and saw 17 cm of accumulation in Hamilton, the highest recorded amount in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area for the weather event. Ottawa saw 12 cm.
The last time Toronto saw snow this early in the season was in 2018, when a centimetre of the white stuff fell on Nov. 9.
The City of Toronto said it applied salt brine to hills, bridges, and other high-priority areas on Saturday night to prevent ice from forming. On Sunday, salting operations began in conjunction with sidewalk plowing.
Meanwhile, OPP said it’s already responded to over 200 crashes throughout the Greater Toronto Area as a result of the snow and subsequent icy conditions.
Toronto’s long-range forecast
Winter doesn’t officially start until more than a month from now, but the weather is expected to bounce back to more seasonal temperatures by mid week.
Monday and Tuesday, however, will stay well below the seasonal 8 C average with highs expected of -1 C and 4 C, respectively, according to CP24 meteorologist Bill Coulter.
“Bursts of snow throughout the day. But Monday’s snow isn’t here to stay. The high will be a chilly one today, well below normal and not even able to climb above freezing. That means any bands of lake effect snow throughout the day and overnight tonight will adhere to untreated surfaces and create slippery road sections,” he said.
The temperature climbs back up to the 6 C mark by Wednesday and reaches 7 C by Friday. Saturday will be slightly cooler with a high of 4 C and increasing clouds and light winds. Rain, winds and seasonably mild temps will round out the weekend forecast for Sunday when the mercury rebounds to 8 C, Coulter said.
At this point, it is unclear if the two-day snow event to start the week will be a one off or a sign of things to come this November, but Coulson said the latter is possible.
“As we go further into the month of November there is certainly a possibility of more in the way of flurry activity for the GTA,” he said.
