Heavy, wet snow blankets the GTA

TORONTO – A blanket of wet and heavy snow turned GTA roads into a sloppy mess, Wednesday.

Environment Canada snowfall warning issued for the GTA ended by 11 a.m.

Many areas in the GTA received 10 centimetres of snow by Wednesday morning, and another five centimetres could fall by Thursday.

Your photos

680News listeners submit images of the wintry weather.

 

Road/transit conditions

The CAA South Central Ontario reported more than 400 calls for service as of 7:15 a.m.

“It’s not cleaned at all, so you come through there and all of a sudden it’s all slush and the cars are all starting to lose control there,” one listener named Chris said early Wednesday morning. He called in from the point where the Queen Elizabeth Way turns into the Gardiner Expressway, near the West Mall.

On Tuesday, Peter Noehammer, the city’s director of transportation services, said salters were standing by, but there was little the city can do ahead due to the expected rainfall.

“We have [salters] ready and standing by,” Noehammer said. “Unfortunately, with this storm starting out as rain, there’s little we can do ahead of time.”

Toronto police Const. Clint Stibbe suggested people work from home if possible and reminds drivers to anticipate delays.

“If you can leave earlier, do it,” he said. “If you don’t have to go on the roads tomorrow, it’s probably a good idea to work from home if it all possible or go in later in the day.”

TTC spokesperson Brad Ross said half of the subway fleet was parked inside the tunnels to avoid issues with snow accumulation or ice.

He also asked motorists to be considerate when parking on the street. During the Feb. 8 storm, several streetcars were blocked by parked vehicles.

“One private automobile can literally impact thousands of commuters,” he said.

Ross said the TTC will be “working with parking enforcement and aggressively towing those cars that are blocking our streetcars.”

 

Travel advisories/flight delays

The storm hit the American Midwest. Parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas received close to half a metre of snow in a couple of days.

Air Canada, WestJet and Porter Airlines have all issued travel advisories, warning of possible delays or cancellations due to the weather.

 

The winter storm is blamed for at least three deaths in the central United States.

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