Snow, and those winds
The high wind gust measured at Pearson yesterday morning roughly equate to the high end of CAT 1 hurricane force winds, the Port Colborne gust at the high end of a CAT 3...
Powerful winter storm expected to hit region
Up to 30 centimetres of snow could fall overnight
Jan 31, 2008 04:30 AM
Curtis Rush
Debra Black
staff reporters
A major winter storm is ready to clobber the Greater Toronto Area overnight.
Environment Canada is warning about two possible scenarios for residents in the region.
Depending on where you live, you could wake up to anywhere from 15 to 30 centimetres of snow, or you could face an ugly cocktail of ice pellets and freezing rain as you drive in to work.
The national weather service is tracking the low-pressure system over Texas as it heads north. Further updates will be coming later today.
As of 11:30 a.m., Environment Canada said this storm could be a punishing one as it sets its sights on Ontario.
The leading edge of the storm is expected to reach Windsor and Sarnia tonight. It will then spread rapidly northeast across Ontario and reach Ottawa by Friday morning. Exact snowfall amounts and the location of the ice pellets and freezing rain will depend on the track of the storm.
It's possible the storm could track further north than expected, leaving the GTA to deal with mostly freezing rain and ice pellets.
The potential storm follows on the heals of strong winds that blew through the GTA yesterday, with icy temperatures banishing from memory the warmer weather earlier this week.
Yesterday's windy conditions, with temperatures as low as -9C – between —20C and —25C with the wind chill – triggered some early-morning havoc on the roads. A broken window at a Toronto office tower caused a brief traffic shutdown near Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. And Carlton St. was closed early in the morning because of falling debris from a construction site.
The high winds also meant the Toronto Island ferry service operated only out of Hanlan's Point for most of the day, said Gary Sims, supervisor of the city's marine operations. Buses to and from the Ward's Island docks were provided for passengers.
The Burlington Skyway was closed in the morning after a tractor-trailer was blown on its side, according to the OPP.
Some power outages were reported around the city, mostly affecting the neighbourhoods around St. Clair Ave. W. and Old Weston Rd. The City of Toronto announced an extreme weather alert, in effect until further notice.
Around the province, about 90,000 homes were without power. Nipissing appeared to be hardest hit; 5,600 homes were without hydro. Other communities hit by the power outage included Orangeville, Newmarket, Walkerton, Bracebridge, Aylmer, Parry Sound, Sudbury and Timmins. Hydro One was hoping to restore power as quickly as possible.
The highest winds in the GTA were at Pearson Airport at 5:45 a.m. yesterday, with a gust of 93 kilometres/hour.
"That's the highest I've seen in and around Toronto," said Geoff Coulson, meteorologist with Environment Canada.
But that was topped by a wind gust in the Port Colborne area, in the southern part of Niagara Region, of 126 km/hr about 6 a.m., he said.
"What we're dealing with is the contrast between two air masses," said Coulson. Tuesday night was fairly mild and then a cold front came through and temperatures dropped from 7C or 8C to -7C or -8C, he said.
"Temperatures levelled off at -9C in the Toronto area, and when you factor in the wind we've seen wind chills between -20 and -25."
Temperatures for today were to warm up to -5C, slightly below the normal of —2C for this time of year. With files from Josh Wingrove and Justin Piercy
