Toronto weathers the first snowstorm of the season

[tropicana]

while New York City basked in 66F temps, and Binghamton NY to 65F , areas just to the north of Lake Ontario got walloped by the year's first snowstorm/icestorm. It began really late Tuesday night with rain, and incessant rain, at times heavy continued all day Wednesday, dumping nearly 33mm of rain at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, then as colder northeast winds brought in colder weather, rain changed to freezing rain and ice pellets (sleet) before dawn on Thursday, then to snow during morning rush hour. The snow ended its its entirety Thursday evening across most districts of Southern Ontario, as much colder air moves in. In fact, tonight is forecasted to be down to -8C 17F, the coldest night of the season so far.
Southern Ontario gets swiped by first major winter storm of the season
Thu Nov 22 2007

It was the kind of day that makes even the hardiest among us dream of a tropical beach under warm sunshine. But those who endured the first big storm of the season Thursday quickly found you can't get there from here.

In fact, getting anywhere proved to be a tough challenge, as a major disturbance swept across the entire province, leaving rain, freezing rain, ice pellets, high winds and snow in its wake. How bad you were hit depended a lot on where you started off - and where you were going.

Toronto received between 3-6 centimetres of flakes when they finally started in earnest around daybreak. And we got off easy. Aurora (northern suburb) wound up with 10 centimetres, Mount Forest absorbed 14, and Barrie shovelled out from 17 heavy centimetres. But those out east really got clobbered. In Ottawa, where it's been snowing for days, 20 centimetres of fresh powder hit the ground. Cornwall residents struggled through 25cm.

Accidents abounded both in town and out. The worst took place after the bulk of the snow had already passed, with two serious crashes that closed Highway 400 for hours just past 1pm.

But there was almost no safe place to drive where there wasn't some kind of roadblock. Cops tried their best to give advice, but their worst fears came true, anyway. "(About) 100 crashes overnight but now that the morning rush has started we're experiencing one every minute," noted OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley in the early going. "Most of these are minor collisions, people spinning out into the guide rails, going into the ditch. All are preventable and (drivers) simply speed too fast for road and weather conditions. People should keep in mind, you can't blame the weather when you're the driver. Even in the legislation, you're the captain of the ship. You crash, you pay."

Salt trucks were out in force, but many complained they never saw a plow. That's because they're only sent out when there's enough snow on the ground to actually make it worthwhile. There are 5,300 kilometres of roads in the city. Getting to them all takes a while. Many side streets won't be tended to for 15-20 hours after the flakes stop falling.

When asked how they were coping with the conditions, most GTA residents said they weren't fazed.

It wasn't much fun for those taking public transit, either. GO Transit riders experienced train delays on their lines travelling to Union Station from the east because of icy signal switches, which led to waits of up to half an hour on both eastbound and westbound trains. Also, GO buses ran 30 to 60 minutes late during the morning rush due to slippery road conditions. As for the TTC, subways ran smoothly but surface routes were slower than usual. It came as the Red Rocket relaunched its website with a new section to update riders on delays. There were a few delays at Pearson Airport as crews de-iced planes..

According to the CAA, estimated tow times and light service calls were anywhere from half an hour to 90 minutes. Priority calls were being given to people stranded on the highway who couldn't get to shelter.

In the end, Toronto weathered this storm as it always does, leaving many to wonder when the next one's coming and how badly we'll get hit when it arrives.

It could have been worse and it could have been better.

Depending on where you were, that might have been your reaction to the first big storm of the season that hit almost all of Ontario with a vengeance on Thursday. This one featured just about everything, starting with heavy rain, shifting to ice pellets, adding in high winds and frigid temperatures before finally turning to snow.

The bulk of those flakes started falling during the morning rush, leading to so many fender benders, cops simply lost count. At one point, the OPP declared its officers were receiving reports about an accident every 60 seconds.

Some of the causes were obvious, some weren't. Drivers were going too fast for the conditions, while others were going slow but still ran into black ice. Many were following too close. And then there were those who refused to properly clean off their windshields so they could see where they were going.

Cops complain many motorists simply didn't have their "winter legs" during the first big storm of the year and have to re-learn their driving techniques all over again. For some on Thursday, it was an expensive and time consuming lesson.

[Ed Mahmoud]

while New York City basked in 66F temps, and Binghamton NY to 65F , areas just to the north of Lake Ontario got walloped by the year's first snowstorm/icestorm. It began really late Tuesday night with rain, and incessant rain, at times heavy continued all day Wednesday, dumping nearly 33mm of rain at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, then as colder northeast winds brought in colder weather, rain changed to freezing rain and ice pellets (sleet) before dawn on Thursday, then to snow during morning rush hour. The snow ended its its entirety Thursday evening across most districts of Southern Ontario, as much colder air moves in. In fact, tonight is forecasted to be down to -8C 17F, the coldest night of the season so far.
Southern Ontario gets swiped by first major winter storm of the season
Thu Nov 22 2007

It was the kind of day that makes even the hardiest among us dream of a tropical beach under warm sunshine. But those who endured the first big storm of the season Thursday quickly found you can't get there from here.

In fact, getting anywhere proved to be a tough challenge, as a major disturbance swept across the entire province, leaving rain, freezing rain, ice pellets, high winds and snow in its wake. How bad you were hit depended a lot on where you started off - and where you were going.

Toronto received between 3-6 centimetres of flakes when they finally started in earnest around daybreak. And we got off easy. Aurora (northern suburb) wound up with 10 centimetres, Mount Forest absorbed 14, and Barrie shovelled out from 17 heavy centimetres. But those out east really got clobbered. In Ottawa, where it's been snowing for days, 20 centimetres of fresh powder hit the ground. Cornwall residents struggled through 25cm.

Accidents abounded both in town and out. The worst took place after the bulk of the snow had already passed, with two serious crashes that closed Highway 400 for hours just past 1pm.

But there was almost no safe place to drive where there wasn't some kind of roadblock. Cops tried their best to give advice, but their worst fears came true, anyway. "(About) 100 crashes overnight but now that the morning rush has started we're experiencing one every minute," noted OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley in the early going. "Most of these are minor collisions, people spinning out into the guide rails, going into the ditch. All are preventable and (drivers) simply speed too fast for road and weather conditions. People should keep in mind, you can't blame the weather when you're the driver. Even in the legislation, you're the captain of the ship. You crash, you pay."

Salt trucks were out in force, but many complained they never saw a plow. That's because they're only sent out when there's enough snow on the ground to actually make it worthwhile. There are 5,300 kilometres of roads in the city. Getting to them all takes a while. Many side streets won't be tended to for 15-20 hours after the flakes stop falling.

When asked how they were coping with the conditions, most GTA residents said they weren't fazed.

It wasn't much fun for those taking public transit, either. GO Transit riders experienced train delays on their lines travelling to Union Station from the east because of icy signal switches, which led to waits of up to half an hour on both eastbound and westbound trains. Also, GO buses ran 30 to 60 minutes late during the morning rush due to slippery road conditions. As for the TTC, subways ran smoothly but surface routes were slower than usual. It came as the Red Rocket relaunched its website with a new section to update riders on delays. There were a few delays at Pearson Airport as crews de-iced planes..

According to the CAA, estimated tow times and light service calls were anywhere from half an hour to 90 minutes. Priority calls were being given to people stranded on the highway who couldn't get to shelter.

In the end, Toronto weathered this storm as it always does, leaving many to wonder when the next one's coming and how badly we'll get hit when it arrives.

It could have been worse and it could have been better.

Depending on where you were, that might have been your reaction to the first big storm of the season that hit almost all of Ontario with a vengeance on Thursday. This one featured just about everything, starting with heavy rain, shifting to ice pellets, adding in high winds and frigid temperatures before finally turning to snow.

The bulk of those flakes started falling during the morning rush, leading to so many fender benders, cops simply lost count. At one point, the OPP declared its officers were receiving reports about an accident every 60 seconds.

Some of the causes were obvious, some weren't. Drivers were going too fast for the conditions, while others were going slow but still ran into black ice. Many were following too close. And then there were those who refused to properly clean off their windshields so they could see where they were going.

Cops complain many motorists simply didn't have their "winter legs" during the first big storm of the year and have to re-learn their driving techniques all over again. For some on Thursday, it was an expensive and time consuming lesson.

First snow storms are bigger in Texas.

8 cm at Abilene, almost 16 cm at Sweetwater.