Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say icy roads led to more than 200 crashes across the Greater Toronto Area over the past 24 hours, as drivers struggled with the season’s first major snowfall.
OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said that roughly 220 collisions occurred between Sunday morning and early Monday. “Sometimes we hear reports and it turns out to be minor, but this time we saw significant snow accumulation,” Schmidt said. “Even though it stopped by the evening, temperatures dropped sharply and everything on the ground froze into hard-packed snow and ice.”
Environment Canada reported around 10 centimetres of snow at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Sunday, while Hamilton saw the highest accumulation in the region at 17 centimetres.
Schmidt said the sudden freeze caught many motorists off guard. “The snow and ice caught drivers by surprise,” he noted. “That’s far more collisions than we’d usually see from Sunday into Monday morning, and that doesn’t even include the morning rush hour.”
A special weather statement issued for Toronto and nearby regions on Sunday has since ended, but more light snow is in the forecast. Monday’s high will reach only 1°C, with wind chills making it feel closer to -12°C early in the day.
On Tuesday, temperatures will rise slightly to a high of 3°C with a chance of flurries or light showers. The morning wind chill is expected to make it feel like -8°C.
Rain and milder temperatures are expected to return midweek. Environment Canada forecasts highs of 7°C on Wednesday and 6°C on Thursday, offering some relief after the city’s record-breaking early snowfall.
