Shouldn't there be a mercy rule in winter, where you simply say, 'O.K., I give up?' and forfeit the match? That's what some GTA residents are wishing, after being hammered by yet another day filled with more snow.
This latest blast is expected to dump between 10 to 25 centimetres on the city before it all ends, and it hit with full force at the worst time - right as the afternoon rush was heating up. And this one promises to be almost as bad as last week's.
Between 7pm-1am, the city will see .5 to 2 centimetres every hour for a total of about 7 or more. It slows down overnight, leaving another 2-4cm behind by the time you wake up Wednesday morning and start shovelling it all away.
Toronto crews are doing their best cope with it all, but Mother Nature has a wintry ace up her sleeve - she never gets tired and our intrepid snow fighters sometimes do. "We're going to have 200 salters out, 300 sidewalk plows and 600 road plows," promises Toronto Transportation's Myles Currie.
The flakes started as snow squalls in the late morning before gradually being joined by the arrival of the storm forecasters had been predicting since last week. It got here right on time and by 3pm, the accidents were already starting to pile-up on the highways.
Oddly, for the first time this winter, areas north of the GTA aren't getting it quite as bad. But that still didn't prevent problems.
"We've now had about 173 crashes since the top of the day," relates OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley. "Most of those this afternoon, many of them since 4pm. So a very slow drive for a lot of folks ... So we want to remind people, if you're out there ... you've got to slow down and use a lot of caution around those snowplows."
Conditions weren't much better for those heading out into the city, with the drive home a mess just about everywhere. Traffic was literally crawling an inch at a time as the entire workforce looked for a way to get home.
And the Better Way wasn't that much better. Both the
TTC and
GO were experiencing major delays on the surface routes as more cars joined the parade of pile-ups.
Those who thought they'd head to the airport to get away from it all were disappointed. There were dozens of delays and even more cancellations as the storm took its toll here and elsewhere.
Check your flight here.
The CAA received more than 3,000 calls from distressed drivers and waits were up to 90 minutes or more. It's a slight decrease from the day before, when they received a record 9,000 calls.
Many were waiting for tow trucks drivers and independent snow plow contractors, who are making a fortune out of your misery.
But there's certainly gold in all that white. A normal February sees about 22 centimetres of snow and we've already tripled that. And there's still a few weeks to go. All this just adds to the 128 centimetres that have fallen this season and many are wondering where they're going to put it all.
Despite a slew of complaints since last week, the city vows to have it all taken care of within a day. "The deal with this snowstorm, we'll have our plowing complete within 18 to 20 hours following the end of the storm, and then we'll go back to our major snow removal operation," Currie contends.
And as if all this isn't bad enough, snow haters will turn white - an appropriate colour - at the news that there's more on the way.
At least 4-7 additional centimetres may come down on Friday, and while it's too soon to say what Sunday night and early Monday have in store, forecasters are warning about the possibility of 'another significant snow event' - maybe as much as another 20 cm. Which means you could be spending at least part of your first-ever Family Day holiday in the throes of togetherness with your kith and kin - shovelling out your driveway.
Still, not everyone's complaining. "Today is just a beautiful day with the snow blowing around," muses Melissa Clare. "I don't mind it. It's Canada!"
Hard as it is to believe, this isn't the all-time snow record for the month. That goes back to 1846, when the city got 117 centimetres in just 28 days, in what surely didn't feel like the shortest month of the year.
Check the forecast here
Read meteorologist Michael Kuss's latest blog
Storm Cancellations For Tuesday, Feb. 12
City And You Have Same Dilemma: Where To Put All That Snow
Pedestrians Pay Price For Icy Sidewalks
Where to complain about snow removal