BY THE NUMBERS: Snow and winter in the GTA

Toronto and the GTA has been hammered with snow, cold temperatures, treacherous commuting and countless delays during this winter season.

On Wednesday, Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning for Toronto and the GTA. The city is also under an extreme weather alert.

Below is a breakdown of the numbers.

Extreme cold weather alerts

• Feb. 5 alert was the fifth one the city issued this winter, officially covering a total of 19 days
• Season with the most extreme cold weather alerts was 2008-2009 — city was under an alert for 27 days during that time

Taxi service

• On Feb. 5, Beck Taxi says it received around 2,000 calls an hour and wait times are around 70 minutes
• In January of 2014, the cab company received 100,000 more calls than in January 2013

CAA calls

• Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) says it received over 1,400 calls for service in south central Ontario (that includes Toronto) on Feb. 5. The wait for a tow truck in the GTA is over 90 minutes, as of 12:38 p.m.
• Record number of calls was on Jan. 3 at 9,500

Crash numbers

• At one point on Wednesday, Toronto police responded to a crash every four minutes. Only minor injuries were reported

Flight cancellations

• More than 340 flights cancelled at Pearson International Airport due to the storm in the U.S., affecting Chicago, New York and Boston, as of 1:12 p.m. on Feb. 5

Snow accumulation at Pearson
Statistics compiled by CityNews meteorologist Natasha Ramsahai, 680News meteorologist Jill Taylor and Environment Canada

• As recorded at Pearson, Toronto broke the Feb. 5 snowfall record on Wednesday — 14.9 cm. The previous Feb. 5 record was 11.6 cm set in 2011. Wednesday also marked the largest snowfall recorded so far this winter
• According to Environment Canada, the most snow fell in the Niagara Escarpment area, with 29 centimetres blanketing the region as of 12:06 a.m. on Feb. 6
• In January, Pearson received 32 cm of snow
• As of Feb. 11, Toronto has received 85.6 cm. At this time last year, the city received 56 cm
• The all-time record is 207.4 cm of snow set back in the winter of 1937-1938
• The average for the same time period is around 64 cm and the average snowfall for the whole winter is about 109 cm

Snowfall in other areas so far
Statistics compiled by CityNews meteorologist Natasha Ramsahai

• Muskoka: 375.4 cm (average yearly snow fall is 333.9 cm)
• Thornbury: 335.5 cm (average yearly snowfall is 259.1 cm)
• Barrie: 198.6 cm (average yearly snowfall is 267.3 cm)

Average temperatures
Statistics compiled by CityNews meteorologist Natasha Ramsahai

• The average mean temperature for January was -5.5 C, but bottomed out at -8.6 C
• It was one of the top-20 coldest January on record for Toronto, tying 1963 at number 16

Top 5 coldest Toronto winters over the past 25 years

1994:   -7.8 C
2014:   -6.0 C
1996:   -5.9 C
2003:   -5.8 C
2011:   -5.4 C

Top 5 coldest January’s on record

1994:   -12.4 C
1945:   -11.9 C
1977:   -11.7 C
1970:   -10.9 C
1981:   -10.2 C

Salt use and equipment

• The city has 200 salt trucks, 600 road plows and 300 sidewalk plows in its snow-clearing arsenal
• 10,000 tons of salt being used on Wednesday
• 16 hours for side streets to be cleared once the snow stops falling

Crash rate

• According to Toronto Police, one crash is being reported about every four minutes

Blue Mountain numbers

• During peak times Blue Mountain’s ski rental department issues approximately 2,500 skis and snowboards daily.
• In a given season, ski and snowboard rentals have been as high as 77,000.
• 125,000 single tickets have been already sold this season.  That number doesn’t include season pass sales.
• On a busy weekend, Blue sees approximately 15,000 visitors (Friday to Sunday).
• There has been a slight dip in rentals and tickets sold when extreme weather is forecasted. As soon as temperatures return to seasonal, skier and snowboarder traffic increases.