Most school buses cancelled Wednesday but GTA schools open, in ‘snowiest’ month for Toronto in years

Pedestrians struggle through the heavy snow on Don Mills and Finch Avenue East 

A second wave of heavy snow hit Toronto late Tuesday, starting just past midnight with rain, but quickly changing to heavy, wet snow.

Meteorologists have said this storm is not as bad as the last

one from two weeks ago, but is equally unpleasant for commuter systems across the GTA, with many delayed and cancelled bus/train routes and flight cancellations.

Snow reached 10 cm overnight, but it’s expected to increase at least another 5 cm as the snow/rain storm continues through the early morning.

Most hassle is expected to be experienced in the morning rush hour, on the drive to work, and alternate routes are recommended. Environment Canada has warned that untreated roads and sidewalks should be avoided and used with caution due to slippery snow and slush.

Emergency crews at several power companies in the GTA are busy trying to restore electricity to customers, especially in the Agincourt area of Toronto, and in York Region.

For Toronto Hydro, between 1001 and  5000 customers are without power.

Hydro One, which runs the power grid outside of Toronto,  says active outages are 51 and they have over 5,076 affected customers.

PowerStream reported 15 outages in Markham, and one in Aurora.

Air Canada, Porter Airlines and Westjet are urging travellers to check their flights before arriving at the airport, as there are delays and cancellations to some flights today. You can view your flight information at www.TorontoPearson.com for more information.

TTC officials have urged commuters to give themselves plenty of extra time.

In Toronto, colleges and universities will be open, as will the TDSB, TCDSB, the UOIT campuses.

In Peel and York Region, schools will run classes as scheduled, although school bus service is cancelled.

The following school bus services have been cancelled, but schools are open:

-Campbellford

-Clarington

-Durham Public and Catholic schools, (no busses north of Highway 7)

-Halton Disctrict schools, (no busses north of Highway 7)

-Northumberland

-Peterborough

-Wellington-Dufferin mostly open, but no bus service.

Excexpt the Wellington-Dufferin school board says the following “transportation dependent schools” will be closed : Aberfoyle, Brisbane, Eramosa, Ponsonby, Centre Peel, Kenilworth, and Maryborough public schools.

All recreational activities in Burlington have been closed for Wednesday morning.

The Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College campus and clinics will be closed until 11 a.m.

The rain-and-snow mix storm has affected mostly Southwestern Ontario and Quebec, especially Lake Ontario. Originally travelling from Texas, the storm has been making its way up north across the region since Tuesday night.

Weather forecasters have declared this has been the “snowiest month in Toronto in four years” and say we can expect anywhere from 20 to 25 cm of snowfall to hit.

 

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By: Aaron Niles and Radina Vencheva
Posted: Feb 27 2013 7:23 am
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