Toronto got its first blast of winter weather on Tuesday and Environment Canada is warning that there could be another five to 10 centimetres of snowfall overnight.

Environment Canada issued a Winter Weather Travel Advisory for Toronto and most of the GTA on Tuesday as snow blanketed the city. The city’s first snowfall of the season comes courtesy of a low-pressure system which made its way over Lake Erie overnight.

The snow came to a stop in downtown Toronto at around 2 p.m. But it is expected to pick up again later tonight, which could make for a messy morning commute.

“We have our crews ready to go,” Vincent Sferrazza, Toronto’s director of transportation operations and maintenance, told CP24 late Tuesday afternoon. “We expect the heavy snow to come overnight but we in fact started bringing the expressways last night and a few arterial roads in the downtown area have been given a round of salt.”

In previous years the city only began plowing on local roads after five to eight centimetres of accumulation but Sferrazza said that there are new contracts this year, which will see plows dispatched as soon as possible after the snow starts “sticking to the ground.”

He said that the city will also be communicating more frequently with residents during major snow events following criticism around its response to a massive winter storm that dumped 55 centimetres of snow on Toronto last January.

“You are going to see a lot more enhanced communication so residents understand exactly what is going on and where it is happening so they can prepare accordingly,” he said.

 

NUMEROUS COLLISIONS

The surprise snowfall on Tuesday created slippery road conditions throughout the city.

OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt told CP24 that there were several collisions amid the snowfall, including a single-vehicle rollover on eastbound Highway 407 just past Highway 410 in which road conditions could have been a factor.

Schmidt said that the driver in that collision had to be extricated from the vehicle after slamming into a median and “incredibly” only sustained minor injuries.

“It certainly could have been far more serious and of note the vehicle did have all-season tires. Not sure if winter tires would have made the difference,” he said.

A high of 4 C is expected in Toronto Tuesday, with periods of light snow continuing into Wednesday.