Toronto's first full day of spring marked with flurries

Toronto’s first full day of spring will be marked by periods of heavy flurries and near zero visibility and is already causing problems on some of the city’s major roadways.

Environment Canada had issued a winter travel advisory Wednesday morning ahead of what the agency described as brief, heavy snowfall during the afternoon. 

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The snow itself won’t stick around for long and accumulations aren’t expected to exceed four centimetres, but a cold front moving south through the area could make for a difficult evening commute.

Ontario Provincial Police were called to a multi-vehicle crash on a major Toronto highway earlier this morning following a burst of blowing snow. In a video posted to X, Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said officers responded to several separate collisions on the westbound Eglinton Avenue ramp to Highway 401 with a total of 17 vehicles involved.

Several people were transported to hospital, he said. The extent of their injuries was not disclosed.

“This is on an overpass, an elevated platform, which may have contributed to some of the freezing and icing conditions,” Schmidt said in the video.

Drivers are asked to adjust their speeds to accommodate road conditions throughout the blast of wintry weather, which is expected to taper off later tonight.

When will the spring weather arrive?

As for when the spring-like temperatures will materialize, CP24 Meteorologist Bill Coulter said that could take a while.

“You’ll want to keep the thicker jackets, hats and gloves close at hand for the rest of the week,” he said, noting that temperatures won’t climb above 7 C until Tuesday of next week.

Wednesday’s high is expected to sit at 1 C. Thursday will struggle to reach -1 C.

“Friday will offer few peaks of early morning sun. Flurries arrive by midday flurries. Snow amps up through the afternoon and evening. Local accumulations could exceed 5 cm before winding down overnight. The high will struggle to reach -2 C,” Coulter said.