Toronto is bracing for a blast of winter weather that is set to hit the city this evening and last into Saturday.

The GTA is currently under a winter storm warning, with 20 to 30 cm of snow expected to fall between Friday evening and Saturday morning.

“A Texas low is expected to bring heavy snow and strong winds to a large swath of southern Ontario. Snow will begin this evening and quickly become heavy at times,” Environment Canada said in its warning. “Heavy snow in combination with strong easterly winds will create significantly reduced visibility and hazardous travel conditions.”

Officials are advising those who don’t have to venture out this evening to stay home or to take public transit were possible. People are also being reminded to leave themselves extra time to get around, to leave more space between vehicles, and to drive more slowly if they are on the roads.

“It all looks relatively benign right now. However, do not be fooled,” CP24 Meteorologist Bill Coulter said. “A major low pressure system – or we’re calling it a Texas low because it's drawing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, now over Texas looping up to the Great Lakes – is going to provide quite a winter wallop starting around 5 or 6 p.m. and lasting through the evening and overnight before backing off and warming up tomorrow.

“It really is a limited event but it's a highly impactful one. If you have any flexibility, change your plans to stay off the roads late evening, overnight.”

 

HOW LONG WILL THE SNOW CLEARING TAKE?

The city began preparing for the storm Thursday, applying liquid salt brine to expressways, bridges, steep hills, and other priority areas. Officials said Friday morning that crews and equipment will be ready to go at strategic locations around the city before the storm arrives.

“We will be plowing hard and fast all weekend long and making every effort to plow snow to the curb,” General Manager of Transportation Services Barbara Gray said. “But based on the amount of snow we're expecting to get and the limited right of way storage in some places, some curb lanes may be impacted and we also may have to do some snow removal into the coming days.”

Expressways will be plowed after 2.5 cm of snow have fallen, while major roads and transit routes will be plowed at 5 cm. Residential streets will be plowed after 8 cm have fallen. Sidewalks and bike lanes will be cleared after 2 cm have fallen.

Because of the amount of snow that is anticipated, Director of Operations & Maintenance Vincent Sferrazza told reporters, the city will actually have to take the “rare” step of removing snow from roads, sidewalks and bike lanes after plowing.

“We don't often do it, but because of the amount of snow that we anticipate receiving, there won't be the capacity on our road allowances for all the snow,” Sferrazza  said. “When you have that much snow and all the plowing you have significant windrows created. Those are piles of snow and they could then become an obstruction for traffic, for pedestrians. So at that point, after we’ve finished the plowing, which will go throughout the entire weekend, we will then have to transition into the removal of the snow the actual collection of the snow off of the roads, off of the sidewalks, off of the bicycle lanes.”

He said the city’s snow dumping sites will be ready and equipped with snow melting machines.

The clearing operations are expected to continue into next week.

The city says its warming centre at Metro hall, (55 John St.) is currently open and it will open its other three warming centres at 7 p.m. tonight because of the storm.

Toronto sat at -3 C Friday morning, though it feels a few degrees colder with the wind chill. A high of 1 C is expected in the city today, while a high of 3 C is expected Saturday and a high of 4 C is expected on Sunday.

 

TRAVEL COULD BE IMPACTED

The storm could also result in some transportation disruptions.

Via Rail reminded customers to check the status of their train because of the storm.

Air Canada warned travellers that flights between Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City, Montreal, and Halifax could be affected by the snowstorm and said change fees would be waived for affected flights.

The UP Express warned that while 15-minute service is running today, the storm could result in possible delays and cancellations.

The TTC said Friday that it has cancelled signal work that would have shut down the subway between Bloor-Yonge and York Mills stations for the weekend. Instead, the TTC said, shuttle buses will be redeployed “to priority corridors to ensure good connections to shopping and medical facilities during the winter storm.”

The corridors being prioritized are primarily in Scarborough, west end of Toronto and North York, the TTC said. They include Jane Street, Finch Avenue West, Dufferin Street, Lawrence Avenue East and West and Markham Road.

Meanwhile, Line 3 Scarborough RT will run until 7 p.m. before being replaced by bus shuttle service. Just like previous storms, the TTC is taking out 41 bus stops located in hilly areas this afternoon.