Roads are 'getting worse and worse,' as 20 cm forecast to fall today
A winter blast is hitting southern Ontario as a storm that began Thursday intensified during the morning commute, leaving drivers to contend with treacherous conditions.
Most of southern Ontario remained under a snowfall warning on Friday morning with the weather causing widespread school closures,
flight cancellations and poor visibility for drivers.Roads in and around Toronto were snow-covered and slippery across the city. By 8:30 a.m., the OPP had responded to 150 collisions since midnight.Sgt. Dave Woodford said traffic Friday morning was moving at 20 km/h on Highway 400 as drivers contended with blowing snow and near-zero visibility. “Conditions are treacherous right now," said Woodford. “People think because they have snow tires or four-wheel drive, nothing can happen to them. If you have to be out, slow down. If you don’t have to be out anywhere, don’t go on the roads.” The southern Ontario branch of the Canadian Automobile Association received 900 calls for service on Friday, with drivers waiting up to an hour for service.City crews had dispatched about 600 plows to the city's main routes but they were struggling to keep up with the fast-falling snow. “Roads are getting worse and worse this morning,” reported CBC’s Trevor Dunn. “You can forget about seeing the markings on the roads, they’re covered in snow. If you accelerate too fast, you’ll start to fish tail quite easily.” “The Gardiner Expressway is moving very slowly, but that’s a good thing because it’s covered in snow.”
Most of southern Ontario remained under a snowfall warning on Friday morning with the weather causing widespread school closures,
flight cancellations and poor visibility for drivers.Roads in and around Toronto were snow-covered and slippery across the city. By 8:30 a.m., the OPP had responded to 150 collisions since midnight.Sgt. Dave Woodford said traffic Friday morning was moving at 20 km/h on Highway 400 as drivers contended with blowing snow and near-zero visibility. “Conditions are treacherous right now," said Woodford. “People think because they have snow tires or four-wheel drive, nothing can happen to them. If you have to be out, slow down. If you don’t have to be out anywhere, don’t go on the roads.” The southern Ontario branch of the Canadian Automobile Association received 900 calls for service on Friday, with drivers waiting up to an hour for service.City crews had dispatched about 600 plows to the city's main routes but they were struggling to keep up with the fast-falling snow. “Roads are getting worse and worse this morning,” reported CBC’s Trevor Dunn. “You can forget about seeing the markings on the roads, they’re covered in snow. If you accelerate too fast, you’ll start to fish tail quite easily.” “The Gardiner Expressway is moving very slowly, but that’s a good thing because it’s covered in snow.”
Storm disrupts flights, trains
More than 400 flights were cancelled at Toronto’s Pearson Airport. Billy Bishop airport was also reporting cancellations. Travellers are advised to check with their airline before heading to the airport. GO Transit was operating on a disrupted storm schedule. They’ve posted updated information here.The city also wasted no time issuing an extreme weather alert, asking homeless people who normally stay outside to seek shelter. Toronto has not seen a snowfall exceeding 15 centimetres since Dec. 19, 2008, said Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips, adding the precipitation from the current system represents nearly half the total snowfall for all of last year. With the forecast calling for snow to continue falling throughout the day, the outbound commute is expected to be difficult as well.The storm was caused when two weather systems, a Texas low and an Alberta clipper, merged. The storm brought winter conditions not only to the GTA, but to much of southern Ontario and the northern U.S. "This potentially could become an historic storm not only for the city of Toronto but for places south of the border," said CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2013/02/07/toronto-snow-storm.html