Welcome back my friends to the snow that never ends.
With apologies to Emerson, Lake and Palmer, that may be the best theme song for at least part of the weekend, as a massive disturbance that runs from Southern Ontario to Texas takes its time getting through the GTA.
When it finally leaves, the city is expected to be digging out from between 20-30 centimetres, potentially making this one of the worst storms of the winter. The flakes arrived at the worst time on Friday, just before the start of the afternoon rush. They weren't that heavy at the beginning, just steady, and while they hampered the rush home, causing the usual problems, the going was slow but steady.
But while the in-town routes were mostly passable, the highways were their usual mess. The OPP reported to more than a hundred accidents in just a few hours. "We've seen over 130 collision inside a four-hour period," relates Cst. Dave Woodford. "It was treacherous out there for that commute home."
He was also dismayed to see people going too fast for the conditions and not doing the simple things to encourage safety.
"A lot of people didn't have their full lighting system on and we were getting the blowing snow with almost like whiteout type of things with the amount of snow that was falling at one time ... It's a courtesy to other drivers, is what it is, and might not [be] important to you, but to other drivers it is important."
Road conditions are getting worse by the minute. The snow began accumulating early and it won't be slowing down much for a while. This storm is slated to last for at least 36 hours, and likely won't end until Sunday morning. Forecasters say it will come in waves, with varying intensities. The timeline isn't fixed but it appears this is what you should expect:
The city claims to be ready for this latest onslaught and they should certainly be good at it by now. The full compliment of Toronto's 600-plus plow force will be out trying to clear it all away.
"We're looking at it right now as almost two weather fronts," Toronto Transportation's Myles Currie explained on Friday night. "The storm now and the one through the rest of the evening and tomorrow. We'll be ramping up with the full snow plow operation on all our courses, all staff will be activated."
Remember that the main routes get the priority attention - your side street may have to wait for up to 24 hours after the snow ends for crews to reach it. You'll then have 12 hours to clear your sidewalk or face a $125 fine.
And all this white is costing us a lot of green. So far, Toronto has spent some $42 million of its $67 million snow removal budget. And this one threatens to take another big bite out of the little bit that's left. The problem: the city's budget year extends to December 2008, so next winter could prove to be a big financial challenge, too.
Call
(416) 338-9999 if you have any questions about the progress of the plows.
The latter stages of the storm will be accompanied by more misery in the form of high winds, which are expected to blow much of what falls around, making efforts to clear it that much more difficult, and creating white-outs in spots.
This latest big blow could move us closer to the all-time snow record for the season. At least 171cm have already fallen so far, not counting what's coming. The all-time record is 207cm back in 1938-39 and if we get what's expected, we'll be close to 196cm. A few more storms before spring arrives on March 20th, and we could easily smash that total. But either way, we'll be close.
While there are some good things about the timing of this weather beater - it comes partially on a weekend when offices are mostly closed and there's no rush hour to get to work - it couldn't be worse timing for those driving down to popular March Break hot spots like Florida.
Pearson International Airport was jammed with travellers on Friday, trying to accomplish two things - escape the winter cold and get out before the bad weather arrived. The lucky ones made it and are basking on the beach. The rest may have to wait awhile. More than 100 flights were either delayed or cancelled by the afternoon, as the storm took its toll in the
U.S. and Canada.
Check with your airline here before venturing out to the airport
For those taking the car and not a plane to the sunny south, there's a word of warning. This weather event is so big, you won't be driving out of it anytime soon. According to
CityNews meteorologist Michael Kuss, your best bet is to hit the road and head down I-75. You'll still run into lots of snow around London, Detroit and Cincinnati but it won't be quite as bad as other routes. You won't be heading out of it until you reach Knoxville, Tenneesse.
Florida has had its own share of terrible weather, but it should be in good shape by the time most snowbirds arrive.
Those staying put are trying to take it all with a grain of increasingly hard-to-find salt. "I don't drive so I don't really care," comments 27-year-old Sharjael Uqaili. "It's just another winter, I mean you come to expect this."
But for Victoria Singh, enough is enough. "Oh, my God," she sighs. "I'm just waiting for spring fever. It's too much."
"I think we've had enough already," complains John Amaral.
As terrible as all this is after a winter of non-stop snow, it could be worse - you could be living in either the Niagara Region or around Kingston. Those places could get the real brunt of the storm, and stand to be hit with as much as 50cm of flakes - that's more than a foot - before the sun returns on Sunday.
So how much is on the way where you are? Keep in mind this is still just a best guess, because any number of factors can change the outcome.
Possible Snow Totals by 9am Sunday
- Toronto: 20cm
- Niagara Falls: 25cm
- Peterborough: 25cm
- Barrie: 21cm
- London: 27cm
- Goderich: 15cm
Next week, temperatures will moderate somewhat, leaving us with rain and the chance to melt a lot of what's fallen almost non-stop since February - finally turning our March Break into a much needed March brake.
Storm cancellations
Hundreds turn out for free snow shovel offer
Snow shovelling: how to make it easy on yourself
Here are some references to bookmark during the storm.
GO Train and Bus status
TTC service disruption advisories
Coach Canada
Pearson Airport flight status
VIA Rail train schedules
Greyhound schedules
Updates on plows
(416) 338-SNOW
Seniors/Disabled Free Sidewalk Clearing (City of Toronto only)
(416) 416-392-7768
Check the roads through our Eyes cameras
Check the forecast
Read meteorologist Michael Kuss's latest storm blog