Our winter weather was a lot like that credit card you used to charge all those Christmas gifts in the warmth of December.
Eventually you've got to pay up.
The bill came due Monday with interest, as the G.T.A. awoke to the first major storm of the season.
Depending on where you were, you got a mixture of rain, freezing rain, ice pellets or snow. And some places got all four at once.
The sleet started early Monday morning and lasted about 10 hours until noon. It left behind dozens of accidents, scores of slippery sidewalks and a plethora or people looking to get onboard a plane and head to warmer climates.
The only problem? The weather was making it impossible for most of those flights to take off.
Between five and 15 millimetres of freezing rain mixed at times with ice pellets to make for a miserable morning commute.
Areas to the north and east, including Orangeville, Newmarket, Peterborough, Kingston and Cornwall, were due for a dose of the same, along with a lot more snow.
And while the freezing rain ended by 1pm, the fallout didn't. An accident that's believed to be weather related caused a
tractor trailer to jackknife on Highway 400 near the 407, forcing the road to be shut down for the rest of the afternoon.
Sidewalks were slippery as well.
"These are bad shoes. I usually ride my bike but today it was too snowy," said one GTA resident.
Snowplows and sanders tried to make the experience less painful - they were out from about 2am clearing the roads. About 200 trucks were deployed, with the city ringing up a bill of around $700,000 for the clean-up.
"Things are under control," assured Peter Noehammer of Toronto Transportation Services later in the day.
Although it can change again. "We still are expecting about five centimetres of snow, according to our forecasts," he warns.
Home and business owners have 12 hours after a storm to clear their sidewalks, or they face fines of $105.
But some were pre-occupied with another ice clearing chore - getting the glue-like pellets off of their windshields.
"It took me 15 minutes to clean up, to scratch the car," outlines one motorist as she pecks away at the glazed coating.
The 'better way" to travel appeared to be the TTC as the subway and surface routes ran smoothly for most of the morning rush.
The same couldn't be said for GO Transit, which had delays on several trains on the Lake Shore East, Lake Shore West and Milton train lines, as well as several cancelled trips. GO buses also ran about half an hour late on average.
"I have a doctor's appointment that I've been waiting three months for in Oakville," complained rider Linda Daigle. "I left the house at 8:30 this morning and it's almost two hours later. Where's the problem? What are they going to do if we get a bad storm. To me this is mild weather."
The problems were mostly resolved by the afternoon rush as the weather improved.
Though most schools were open through the province many school buses were cancelled - in the London area, at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, and in other parts of southern Ontario.
Some jobs were also affected by the storm. Construction workers were forced to battle through the worst of it where they could. And mail carriers weren't happy about the slippery footings they were continually perched on.
"People are supposed to clean this, eventually," grumps Canada Post employee Len Gill, as he trudges wearily to another clogged front door.
He won't be happy to hear that the worst may be yet to come. Forecasters say now that the precipitation is out of the way, get ready for
the bitter cold.
The same system that left the west with temperature readings of -35C is heading this way. And that could leave all that record warmth just a mild memory.
To check current conditions and information, visit:
CityNews.ca Weather
CityNews.ca Traffic
GTAA
GO Transit
School Bus Monitor
Hundreds of accidents across GTA
U.S. suffers from same storm
If you are a senior or disabled, contact the city and they'll clear your sidewalk for you:
In East York, Toronto and York call
416-392-7768,
In North York call
416-395-6205,
In Etobicoke, call
416-394-8352,
In Scarborough call
416-396-7372 or -7373.
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