Snow forces several highways around Sudbury to close

It's no April Fool's joke: Monday saw cold weather and winter storms in the northeast, especially in Sudbury and North Bay.

Northeastern Ontario appears to be having a bit of trouble shrugging off the winter weather as the area is getting blasted with more snow Monday, prompting a series of road closures around the Sudbury region.

Clear skies and above zero temperatures on Sunday changed back to a winter wonderland overnight prompting the Sudbury Student Services Consortium to cancel school buses for the day.

• Download the CTV News app now
• Get local breaking news alerts

“Due to the significant winter storm forecast for today, including heavy snowfall, poor visibility, and hazardous road conditions, all school bus transportation services in Sudbury, Espanola, Massey and Manitoulin are cancelled all day,” the consortium said on its website.

“Schools remain open. Parents who wish to transport their children this morning are reminded that they must pick them up at the end of the day.”

Road closures

With the falling snow, deteriorating road conditions prompted Ontario Provincial Police to close several highways starting Monday morning.

“Reminder to motorists that driving on a closed highway may result in a fine of $110 and 3 demerit points,” OPP said on social media.

Highway 69 closed from Pioneer Road/Provincial Government Offices Road in the South End of Sudbury to Highway 64/Brasier Road in French River shortly after noon.

Highway 17 closed from the Hwy. 69 overpass on the bypass in the South End to Highway 6 in Espanola.

Highway 144 closed from the Hwy. 17 junction in Lively to the Regional Road 15/RR35 intersection in Chelmsford.

All roads were reopened by Tuesday morning.

Manitoulin roads reopened

Highway 6 in Espanola was closed just before 10:30 a.m. in both directions between the CPR railway tracks and the Swing Bridge in Little Current on Manitoulin Island. It reopened before 3 p.m.

Highways 540 was closed from Howland Street in Little Current to Front Street in Meldrum Bay until about 2:30 p.m. Highway 542 was also closed for several hours Monday.

Weather alerts

A snowfall warning is in effect from Massey to Mattawa, north to Timiskaming Shores and south to MacTier.

Snowfall rates of three to five cm/h are expected through the evening with a total accumulation of 15-25 cm.

“Northerly winds gusting up to 60 km/h will further reduce visibility in local blowing snow,” Environment Canada said.

• Daily newsletter with the top local stories emailed to your inbox
• Want more local news? Check out the Sudbury page

“Snow will taper to flurries by Tuesday morning. Rapidly accumulating snow will make travel difficult.”

• Get the full forecast for your community on our weather page

A winter weather travel advisory was issued for Manitoulin Island Monday afternoon.

“Snow is expected to taper to flurries from west to east late this afternoon,” the weather alert said.

“In addition, northerly winds will intensify late this morning into this afternoon with gusts up to 60 km/h resulting in local blowing snow.”

Peak snowfall rates of two to four cm/h are expected with a total of 10-15 cm of accumulation.

The temperature is expected to warm up throughout the week with a return to seasonal temperatures by the weekend.