Winter storm to strike a large part of the south of Ontario with 40 cm possible

A large part of southern Ontario, including the Grand Toronto region, is expected to be struck by large snowfall on Wednesday afternoon which will bring 15 to 40 cm of snow.

Environment Canada has improved its meteorological alert from a special weather declaration to a snowfall warning or a winter storm warning – extending from Toronto to Sarnia, north of Barrie in North Bay and East in Ottawa .

According to the alert of snowfall for Toronto, it is expected that the snow will start in the late afternoon with maximum snow tariffs of 2 to 4 cm per hour. The total snowfall expected for Toronto is about 15 cm.

However, the meteorologist of the World News Ross Hull said that certain parts of the North and East GTA should obtain higher amounts, between 15 and 25 cm.

Hull said that Low Texas crosses the Great Lakes and South Ontario, including the Grand Toronto region on Wednesday afternoon. Snow should start to fall around 4 p.m.

The areas towards Ottawa should see up to 40 cm of snow and area in and around Barrie can see between 20 and 30 cm of snow, with a winter storm warning in place in these places. The amounts of snowfall could possibly exceed 5 cm per hour.

However, Hull said that there was enough cold air in place on Wednesday afternoon so that the system brings snow, which could sometimes be heavy and make it difficult for the cleaning teams to follow. He notes that it will have a big impact on the journey on Wednesday evening for anyone with travel plans on the road or by plane.

The most southern point in Ontario along the coast of Lake Érié, between Windsor in Niagara Falls and Fort Erie, is under an icy rain warning due to the change, said Environment Canada.

“There is still a certain uncertainty about the hot air that will move in with this system which could make a change to mixed precipitation for areas close to Lake Ontario and the Shorelines Erie (including downtown Toronto) later Tonight, “said Hull. “This would reduce snowfall for these areas, but would bring the potential for freezing rain, ice pellets or rain.”

Snow should decrease Thursday morning as it heads east across Quebec and the Maritimes.

Hull has added that there will sometimes be reduced visibility while the winds collect the freshly fallen snow.

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“Consider postponing non -essential trips until the conditions improve,” said Environment Canada in its meteorological alert. “There may be a significant impact on rush hour traffic in urban areas.”

This next snow series occurs days after Toronto and certain parts of southern Ontario were poured with up to 20 cm of snow in some regions on Saturday evening until Sunday.

In addition, Hull said that the models show another potential winter storm emerging from the United States this coming weekend, which could bring more heavy snow in the region on Saturday to Sunday, making three storms in one week for southern Ontario.

Parking prohibition: the city of Toronto declares “the main condition of snowstorm”

Toronto city transport services indicate that it declares a “main snowstorm condition” on Wednesday at 10 pm – Barbara Gray, the director general, said that it was one of the tools that the city can Use to help operations to clear streets as effectively as possible.

The condition temporarily prohibits parking on all designated snow routes. This prevents vehicles from being buried under heaps of snow left by plows and allows emergency services to react quickly, said Gray.

Anyone who is parked on snow routes could be sentenced to a fine or towing, the city said.

Vincent Sferrazza, director of transportation services, said that several plowing and salting cycles will be activated as “we will get a considerable amount of snow”.

Sferrazza added after cleaning, the city will switch to “snow removal”. He said it doesn’t happen often.

“When you get such a large amount of snow, and the temperatures will be cold, you will not have this fusion advantage. He will remain. Consequently, we will have to go to the abolition of snow and it will probably happen at the beginning of next week, probably around Monday. »»

We expect the condition to remain in place until Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the TTC declared that it cancels a pre-plane closure of the metro on line 1 to reassign the resources for the incoming storm.

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“ Mainly a snow event ”: Ontario to prepare for the winter storm in the middle of the week

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