Toronto under extreme cold warning, day after record-breaking snowfall

By News staff

Environment Canada has issued an extreme cold warning for Toronto, the day after a record-breaking snowfall blanketed the city.

The warning also extends to the rest of the GTA.

“A frigid Arctic air mass and strong winds will result in wind chill values of -30 to -35 tonight through to Friday morning,” the national weather agency said in its warning.

680 NEWS meteorologist Jill Taylor said temperatures will fall to -9 C on Tuesday afternoon. The windchill will be near -30 overnight.

Conditions are expected to improve on Friday as milder air moves into the region.

Meanwhile, the cleanup continues from the massive snow storm that led to traffic and transit issues, as well as school bus cancellations and school closures.

In Toronto, the city recorded the largest single-day snowfall — which led to school bus cancellations in the Toronto District and Catholic school boards.

Taylor said around 26.4 centimetres of snow was recorded at Pearson International Airport on Monday, breaking the record of 13.4 centimetres set on that date in 2009. As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, the city recorded 33 centimetres, which factors in the early-morning snow.

But the last time Toronto had more than 20 centimetres of snow in a single day was 51 years ago — 20.8 centimetres on Jan. 14, 1968. Prior to that, Toronto recorded 36.8 centimetres on Jan. 23, 1966, and 27.9 centimetres on Jan. 3, 1943.

School buses were cancelled and schools were closed in Peel and Halton regions, while school buses were cancelled in Durham Region. Click here for a full list.

The snowstorm caused major issues on the TTC. There was no service on Line 3 due but shuttle buses were running. As well, subways were not running between Woodbine and Kennedy stations due to weather-related rail issues, but service has since resumed.

The northbound lanes of the DVP were shut down for several hours overnight due to poor weather conditions. It has since reopened.

OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said there were approximately 300 crashes in the past 24 hours in the GTA and surrounding area.

During the height of the storm, Pearson tweeted that some airlines had cancelled or postponed flights due to the weather.

Taylor said it will continue to be windy on Tuesday with blowing and drifting snow. There will be some sunny breaks, but the GTA could get some more flurries late in the afternoon or early evening.

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