Freezing rain could cause road conditions to 'change very rapidly'
A freezing rain warning has been cancelled for the City of Toronto, but remains in effect for other parts of the GTA and southern Ontario, as ice-covered roadways and sidewalks caused tricky travel conditions Tuesday.
Environment Canada cancelled the warning for Toronto, but the federal agency warned earlier that "ice build-up" was expected elsewhere throughout the morning. The warning remains in effect for Halton, Peel, York and Durham regions.
In the city, freezing rain had changed to rain by mid-morning.
Geoff Coulson, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, said temperatures will remain at or below freezing in areas around Toronto, particularly to the west and north. These areas received "significant" ice build-up through the morning, he said.
While rain is forecast to fall on Toronto for much of the day, freezing rain could continue in areas around Lake Simcoe and Dufferin County, Coulson told CBC Toronto.
In the coming days, "much milder than normal" temperatures will persist in Toronto, he added, with daytime highs hovering between 4 C and 6 C. The normal daytime high for this time of year is -2 C.
"This is not just going to happen for the next couple of days, but a number of forecast models are indicating a much milder-than-normal trend could persist for much of the rest of the month of January," Coulson said.
In Toronto, Tuesday's high is expected to reach 3 C.
Periods of rain or drizzle will end late this evening, when it will be cloudy with a 60 per cent chance of freezing drizzle or drizzle.
Plows out early
The inclement weather led GTA school boards to announce early Tuesday that schools will be open, but buses are cancelled.
In Toronto, the city's winter management operations team said salt trucks had been out on the roads since 4 a.m.
The team's Twitter feed noted that the first round of salting of separated bike lanes in the downtown core got underway around 6 a.m., and that about 200 plows were salting bus stops and "high volume sidewalk routes."
Around 7:30 a.m., a salt truck and four other vehicles collided at Glenayr and Ardmore roads. Toronto police Const. Clint Stibbe said there didn't appear to be any injuries.
OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said the slick roads caused "several collisions" on GTA-area highways, including the 401, 407, 410, 400 and QEW.
He said that while the roads and highways look wet there could be ice underneath, especially at on- and off-ramps, and urged drivers to take extra care.
"Take your time," he told CBC Toronto early Tuesday, as drivers were preparing for their morning commute. "Be very alert, very cautious and realize that conditions could change very rapidly."
Drivers should "do a brake check from time to time," and make sure they leave plenty of room around other cars on the road.
By late morning, York Regional Police reported 19 collisions.
Durham Regional Police reported "very few collisions," but still issued a warning to drivers about slippery roads.
Early Tuesday, the Toronto Transit Commission tweeted that two bus routes were affected by the road conditions. The 78 St. Andrews route was suspended both ways due to icy roadways at Upper Canada and Lord Seaton until late morning, when service resumed.
The 54 Lawrence East is diverting eastbound due to icy roadways at Brimorton Drive and Mid Pines Road.
For air travellers:
- Toronto Pearson Airport is warning passengers to check their flight before heading to the airport. There were 76 cancelled incoming flights and 61 cancelled outgoing flights early Tuesday. However, Shabeen Hanifa, senior communications advisor for the GTAA, said crews had been preparing for the inclement weather since last night, so operations have been fairly smooth. Travellers are also advised to give themselves more time to get to the airport on the slick roads.
- At Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport, Porter Airlines reported that all incoming and outgoing flights were on time.
