While the new year offers us a chance to start fresh in many ways, OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley was witness to the same, stale old story on the roads as 2008 rolled in --- too many motorists driving too fast in conditions that were too slick for excessive speed. The end result was also a familiar one for Woolley --- too many accidents that could have been prevented.
"Some drivers started their New Years off with a big bang, that means a big crash," he noted. "We had nearly 200 crashes in the first 12 hours of 2008. None were life threatening but nearly all of them were preventable."
Winter made its presence felt on the first day of 2008, with heavy snow to start the day and bitterly cold temperatures forecast for later on in the evening.
Large, wet flakes of snow fell across the GTA Tuesday morning, as a snowfall alert was issued not just in Toronto but across much of southern Ontario. Environment Canada's forecast called for periods of heavy snow coupled with strong gusty winds which were expected to cause blowing and drifting. The flakes tapered off in Toronto by midday but the snowfall warning remained in effect for York Region, Durham and most of southeastern Ontario, all the way to Cornwall.
Toronto was expected to receive anywhere from five to 10 centimetres of accumulation, while residents of the Highway 401 corridor from Windsor to Cornwall were having to cope with up to 15 centimetres.
The snowfall means roads and sidewalks are slick and potentially treacherous. Anyone having to head out in the rough weather should take more time to get where they're going.
"If you go too fast, the laws of physics will be there and you are still going to crash," adds Woolley. "We expect the worst of (the storm) to be out of the area by 2pm. So if you can wait (to go out), all the better. You'll have better visibility and the roads will be cleared by then and since the plows work, the snow is falling in behind them too. The temperature drops and expect some ice, but also the snow won't be as heavy either. So that's a good thing."
If your New Year's plans include flying out of town, you'll want to check for flight delays and cancellations. Planes were arriving and leaving pretty much on schedule up until about 8am when the snow really started to come down.
That's when the delays and cancellations started to pile up.
"All things considered we've done well overnight," explained Scott Armstrong with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA).
"We had full staff overnight with snow clearing so about a hundred people dedicated to that. And everyone who is scheduled to get out this morning with the exception of the cancelled flights. But the flights that were still going have left for the morning rush. Right now we are showing a few dozen delays, but nothing significant. And some cancellations because this snowstorm was far reaching. Obviously there'll be cancellations across the system."
The City of Toronto has issued an
Extreme Cold Weather Alert, which will remain in effect until further notice.
Check the
GTAA site for details.
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