A winter storm warning has now ended for Toronto and the GTHA, leaving about 30 centimetres of snow and more than 100 accidents in its wake.
The storm arrived in Toronto late Sunday night and by 9 a.m., 22 centimetres of snow had accumulated in midtown Toronto while 18 centimetres had landed in East York and 19 centimetres had landed north of the city in Thornhill.
The conditions were even more treacherous west of the city with Mississauga, Brampton and Hamilton all recording snowfall totals of between 20 and 25 centimetres and Oakville getting an estimated 30 centimetres.
As a result of the storm, schools have been closed in Peel and Halton regions. In Toronto, schools remain open however both the Toronto District School Board and Toronto Catholic District School Board have cancelled bus service.
Pearson International Airport is also warning travellers to check their flight status before leaving home. As of 4:30 p.m., about 14.8 per cent of daily arriving flights and 17.1 per cent of daily departing flights at the airport had been cancelled.
Meanwhile, dangerous conditions have been reported on city streets with Toronto police responding to 100 collisions between midnight Sunday and 7 a.m. Monday and Ontario Provincial Police responding to another 150 in the overnight hours.
"It is a substantial number but every one of these collisions was avoidable," Traffic Services Const. Clint Stibbe told CP24 early Monday morning. "Everyone just needs to slow down and give themselves more time and extra room."
Stibbe said most collisions reported in the city have involved vehicles that were travelling too fast for the conditions spinning out and either ending up in a ditch or colliding with another vehicle, though he said police are also seeing “numerous vehicles” getting stuck on the northbound Don Valley Parkway near Don Mills Road, where there is an incline.
CP24's cameras also captured more than a dozen TTC buses struggling to climb a steep hill on York Mills Road near Yonge Street on Monday morning after another bus became stuck at the top of the hill.
The backup did eventually clear, but CP24’s cameras subsequently spotted a number of other vehicles unsuccessfully spinning their wheels as they attempted to get up the same hill.
The 95 York Mills bus is now diverting eastbound via Yonge, Sheppard and Bayview due to road conditions in the area.
“We haven’t had as many snow storms as some other winters, so people need a little time to react to that but I think we are doing quite well,” Mayor John Tory said of the city’s handling of the blizzard in an interview with CP24 outside city hall Monday morning. “We had the salt and plows out last night and now they will get at the side streets and the sidewalks today and the salt will come back out. So far so good and welcome to winter.
Public transit also being impacted by weather
In addition to creating havoc for drivers, the winter weather is also having an impact on public transit, with the TTC warning commuters to expect delays on all surface routes.
Wheel-Trans service is also limited to essential trips only.
“Leave yourself lots of extra time,” TTC spokesperson Brad Ross told CP24 on Monday morning. “The subways are running fine but our buses and streetcars can only travel as fast as the road conditions allow, so please pack some patience when you leave this morning.”
GO Transit has also been impacted by the storm with delays being reported across its network and GO bus service to the Bronte Carpool Lot suspended until further notice.
“It has been an awful day for our GO customers. Some have gotten in without much of a delay but others have been delayed up to an hour, especially with our buses,” GO Transit spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins told CP24. “It has been an uncomfortable commute but we just want to make sure we get everyone there in one piece, so we have to go slowly.”
In addition to the winter storm warning, the City of Toronto is also under an extreme cold weather alert as the temperature is expected to hover around - 10 C throughout the day, feeling closer to - 26 C with the wind chill.
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