Toronto and much of southern Ontario are now under a winter storm warning ahead of the arrival of a system that is expected to move in Wednesday afternoon, bringing with it a wintry mix of snow and ice pellets.
The city was previously under a winter storm watch, but Environment Canada upgraded that advisory to a winter storm warning on Tuesday evening.
The storm, which is the result of a Colorado low and is expected to arrive late Wednesday afternoon, could dump 10 to 15 centimetres of snow and ice pellets.
Environment Canada said accumulation might be lower in areas that would see a greater period of mixing with ice pellets and freezing rain.
“Light snow and ice pellets will become heavy at times late Wednesday afternoon into early Wednesday evening. Snow and ice pellets may mix with or intermittently change over to freezing rain Wednesday night. The wintry mix will taper off early Thursday morning to a risk of patchy freezing drizzle,” the advisory read.
Environment Canada added that another light wintry mix of precipitation is possible Thursday afternoon into the evening.
“Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots will become icy, slippery and hazardous. Take extra care when walking or driving in affected areas. There may be a significant impact on rush hour traffic in urban areas,” the advisory read.
A winter storm warning is also in effect in Peel, Durham, York and Halton regions.
Environment Canada said Toronto will reach a high of 0 C on Wednesday with a wind chill of -10 in the morning. A high of 1 C is in the forecast for Thursday, with a low of – 10 C by the evening.
In advance of the storm, city officials say that liquid salt brine will be applied to expressways and other priority locations, beginning in the overnight hours. The officials say that salting will then begin “as soon as the snow starts to accumulate” on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the city’s warming centres are all expected to be open as the storm begins to hit Toronto.
One of the city’s warming centres, located at Metro Hall, is already open. Officials say that the three remaining warming centres at Scarborough Civic Centre, Mitchell Field Community Centre and Cecil Community Centre will open at 7 p.m. tomorrow.
As for what residents can expect, CP24 Meteorologist Bill Coulter said that the storm should arrive in Toronto around the dinner hour on Wednesday and “last with intensity” through the morning rush hour on Thursday. By the time it is over, Coulter anticipates 10 to 20 centimetres of snowfall accumulation.
He said that light precipitation will also continue into the day on Thursday “with a mixed bag of freezing rain and ice pellets.”
“It is going to be quite dangerous as the cleanup continues on Thursday and it will probably slow you down at the very least. Really, it will be a difficult travel period from late Wednesday and through the day on Thursday,” he said.
