If you thought Toronto would be safe for a little while longer from the snow that just prompted a state of emergency in parts of Ontario’s cottage country, think again.
Though we may have dodged the system that abruptly introduced Gravenhurst and other areas a bit north of the city to winter proper over the weekend, Toronto is in line for its own decent dusting of the white stuff this week.
Forecasts are now calling for flurries and snow accumulation of between 5 and 10 cm in Toronto in the coming days, and even more in surrounding cities and towns.
Starting Wednesday morning, the Golden Horseshoe will be hit with mixed wintry precipitation that could include heavy snow squalls and even whiteout conditions that will persist through Thursday.
The Weather Network (TWN) is warning residents that “the difference in air temperatures over the Great Lakes and over land will serve to enhance the snowfall as it moves inland off of the lakes on Wednesday,” which will lead to “bursts of heavy snow and embedded snow squalls, making for a messy and dangerous situation.”
Snow for everyone! Well, kind of. System moving for Ontario tomorrow and details at @weathernetwork #ONStorm pic.twitter.com/7RwBVtNOt1
— Mark Robinson (@StormhunterTWN) December 3, 2024
The Niagara area will see 10-15 cm by Thursday, as will Peterborough, Barrie and Simcoe. Gravenhurst, London, and Huron County locales like Owen Sound will see totals of up to 20cm.
The City of Toronto is already preparing itself for the conditions, issuing a press release on Tuesday afternoon stating that it “is monitoring the weather forecast and road conditions” and will “deploy crews and equipment as required.”
The update added that staff will be focusing particularly “on expressways, hills, bridges and other high-priority locations to prevent black ice from forming, with salting set to “begin as soon as the snow starts to stick to the pavement.”
“Plowing will occur if snow reaches accumulation of 2.5 cm on expressways, 5 cm on major roads, transit routes and streets with hills, and 8 cm on residential streets. Sidewalk and bikeway clearing will only begin if the snow reaches two cm,” it states.
This will mark the first actual snow event of winter 2024-2025 for the region, following a string of false alarms into late November.
But apparently, after several near-misses that battered the surrounding snowbelt and Western New York with totals ranging as high as 100 centimetres, Toronto’s luck is about to run out.
Shawn Goldberg. With files from Jack Landau.
