An overnight winter storm that dumped wet, heavy snow and rain on the city has turned some streets into lakes and left residents trudging through ankle-deep slush.
The storm rolled in from the U.S. Midwest late Tuesday first with high winds and heavy rain, which turned into wet snow overnight. Wet snow fell well into the morning, bringing some branches down onto hydro lines, cutting power to some 3,500 residents.
By this morning, Toronto Hydro reported it had restored power to all but 500 customers, with outages scattered in pockets across the city.
Residents spent the morning trying to shovel the heavy wet stuff, which one man told CTV Toronto felt like it weighed “about 1,000 pounds.”
Environment Canada cancelled the snowfall warning it had issued for Toronto by Wednesday morning, but the agency forecasted another 5 centimetres of snow for the city through the day, and another 2 cm in the evening. Warnings for surrounding areas of the GTA were lifted by the afternoon.
The TTC did not report any cancellations and schools and buses for the Toronto District School Board remained open and buses were running.
Bus routes were cancelled in Wellington-Dufferin along with all buses for the Peel School Board and Halton’s public and Catholic school boards.
At Pearson Airport, about 360 inbound and outbound flights had been cancelled by Wednesday afternoon. Pearson, West Jet and Porter all issued travel advisories Wednesday morning, warning passengers to check the status of their flights before heading to the airport.
Toronto police are warning drivers of slippery roads, with flooding on some parts of the Gardiner Expressway, Lake Shore Blvd. and the Don Valley Parkway.
In North York, where the snow was much heavier than in Toronto’s downtown, CTV Toronto’s Colin D’Mello said pedestrians were facing treacherous conditions with deep puddles hidden beneath the snow.
“It’s the not the worst storm we’ve seen, but it certainly has its challenges this morning,” he told CTV’s Canada AM.
D’Mello reported finding ankle-deep slush on sidewalks across the city. At Sheppard Ave. and Leslie St., the road had become a small lake, a scene duplicated on other streets.
The city said it has small vehicles going around to intersections to clear the wet snow and slush from catch basins, so the water can drain. Residents are urged to call 311 if they spot a large puddle.
Periods of snow and rain are expected to continue in Toronto throughout the day, with a low of 0 C overnight. Flurries and a high of 3 C are in the forecast for Thursday.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Janice Golding
