Blast of wintry weather causing whiteout conditions, traffic slowdowns

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Blast of wintry weather causing whiteout conditions, traffic slowdowns

WATCH: Timelapse shows messy spring storm blow into Waterloo Region

Freezing rain warnings continue into Thursday

Slippery spring storm hits Waterloo Region

A wintry mix of ice and snow is causing headaches on the roads.

Traffic slowed to a crawl on highways as drivers dealt with near whiteout conditions, around 1 p.m., through Waterloo Region, Guelph and surrounding areas.

The Brant County detachment of Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said multiple vehicles were in ditches along Highway 403. In a social media post at 2:11 p.m., police urged drivers to avoid travelling if possible.

In Wellington County, OPP closed Wellington Road 32 between Highway 7 and Speedvale Avenue West in Guelph around 2 p.m. due to a collision between a bus and tanker truck. Police said large amounts of ice were being reported on the roads at the time.

The Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) has received several reports of dangerous conditions on local roadways.

“Just make sure you’ve got plenty of time to travel. Give yourself lots of space from other vehicles and just be cognizant of what road conditions may be like, especially in the rural areas,” WRPS Const. Chris Iden said.

“If you have to go on the road at nighttime, just remember it’s going to be slick in some areas, especially those areas that may not get as much traffic attention,” he added.

How long will it last?

Environment Canada has issued multiple weather alerts for a large swath of southern Ontario.

The agency said the ground is already near its saturation point and may not be able to absorb more rain. Between 30 and 50 mm is expected in the Waterloo Region area, and the rain could continue through until Thursday morning.

A freezing rain warning is also in place. Precipitation may begin as snow and switch to ice pellets throughout the storm.

“Freezing rain with ice accretion up to 5 mm - not as much or as drastic as we saw from the past weekend, but still enough for a concern,” said CTV News Kitchener’s Weather Specialist Will Aiello.

He also warned roads and sidewalks may be slippery as the freezing rain builds up.

“The other side of the story is the wind gusts. Up to 90 km/h in many areas,” Aiello added.

Strong winds are expected to stick around into Thursday.

Flooding concerns

The spring storm is also prompting concerns with flooding.

The Grand River Conservation Authority has issued a Flood Watch for Grand Valley, Waldemar, Drayton, the Village of Conestogo, New Hamburg and Ayr.

Water levels are already high across the watershed due to the rainfall over the weekend and peak river flows are expected between Thursday morning and Friday afternoon.

Closures, cancellations and delays

Some closures and cancellations are being reported due to the weather.

Education

• Wilfrid Laurier University’s campus and other locations closed as of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Campus operations will resume at 6 a.m. Thursday.

Transit

• Grand River Transit has set up an emergency detour for Route 206 iXpress Coronation. St Gregory/Woodside – Cedar St. closed due to the weather. Closed stops include 2134, 2136, 2267, 3861.
• Wellington Road 7 in Elora was briefly closed due traffic becoming stuck on the slipper road. It has since reopened