A powerful winter storm continued to paralyze roads across Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area Thursday morning, grounding flights, closing highways and triggering dozens of crashes as heavy snow conditions made roads treacherous.
What started as a yellow warning snowstorm has worked its way up to an orange warning snowstorm with more than 20 to 30 centimetres of snow, and up to 50 cm in some regions.
The storm also forced widespread school and university closures across much of Ontario, as boards and post-secondary institutions cancelled in-person classes due to dangerous travel conditions.
Global News chief meteorologist Anthony Farnell said the system is the most significant winter storm to hit the region since January 2022.
Across the GTA, OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said officers were responding to about a dozen active crashes Thursday morning, most involving single vehicles sliding off the roadway.
“Most are single-vehicle crashes, cars in the ditch, into guardrails, facing the wrong way after losing control,” Schmidt said in a social media post. “We’ve also had a couple of multi-vehicle crashes.”
In Toronto, the Don Valley Parkway has been closed in both directions following several crashes linked to black ice.
Police say major routes across the city are seeing snow-covered and slippery conditions.
Schmidt urged drivers to slow down and give snowplows room to work, warning that travel would remain slow and hazardous.
“Make sure you’re giving yourself all the time in the world. Let the plows do their work,” he said. “Have a full headlighting system on.”
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According to Toronto city officials, some TTC routes are also facing delays or experiencing suspended service till conditions and roads improve.
TTC has announced that they are taking measures to ensure service continuity including running anti-icing trains to keep the power rail and tracks clear of snow and ice.
The storm has also caused significant disruption at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
According to FlightAware, as of Thursday, 165 flights were delayed and 101 were cancelled at Pearson. 49 delays involved flights travelling within, into or out of the United States from Toronto Pearson.
Several major GTA highways and ramps are also feeling the impacts of this powerful weather storm, with many partially or fully closed due to crashes and stranded vehicles.
According to OPP, a jack-knifed tractor-trailer shut down the westbound Highway 401 collector ramp at Kennedy Road in Scarborough early Thursday morning.
Other transport trucks have also been reported to be involved in collisions on Highway 402 and along stretches of Highway 401.
In London, fire crews responded to a crash on Highway 401 eastbound just before 4 a.m., using ropes to reach a transport truck driver who had gone down a steep, snow-covered ditch.
No injuries were reported, though heavy towing equipment will be required to remove the vehicle.
OPP’s West Region also reported multiple highway closures due to vehicle collisions Thursday morning.
In central Ontario, police warned that snow, ice and poor visibility were affecting roads in Barrie, Orillia, Midland, Bracebridge, Collingwood, Peterborough and Northumberland County.
OPP are urging drivers in those regions to avoid non-essential travel and to prepare emergency supplies if travel is unavoidable.
“Wait for the storm to pass if you can,” Schmidt said. “Plows are out clearing the roads, but it’s going to be a slow, slippery and messy drive.”
Police are also warning motorists to practise safe driving rules after a transport truck was spotted stopped in a live lane to clear windshield wipers.
OPP called this move “extremely dangerous” and are urging drivers to exit the highway or pull into a safe location if they need to stop.
Ottawa also reported early-morning disruptions after being moved from a yellow to an orange warning. City traffic officials confirmed that at least nine collisions had occurred by mid-morning Thursday as conditions deteriorated.
Conditions are expected to improve slightly by noon, when snowfall will stop.
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