'Major winter storm' will bring snow, bone-chilling temperatures to Toronto

GTA braces for frigid weekend temperatures Environment Canada says the temperature will drop overnight, feeling like -22 with the wind chill.

Crews will likely deploy 10,000 to 12,000 tonnes of salt on Toronto roads this weekend as a winter storm bears down on the city.

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for the entire Greater Toronto Area ahead of the arrival of what it is calling a “major winter storm.”

They say that snow will begin falling sometime Saturday morning and continue throughout the day with a total accumulation of five to 10 centimetres near Lake Ontario and two to five centimetres north of Highway 7.

Extremely cold temperatures will also coincide with the storm’s arrival.

Environment Canada says that the temperature will drop to – 14 C overnight and feel closer to – 22 with the wind chill. The frigid conditions will then persist throughout the weekend with daytime highs of – 12 C on Saturday, - 15 C on Sunday and – 14 C on Monday.

Speaking with reporters on Friday morning, Toronto’s Superintendent of Road Operations Mark Mills said that there will be about 1,100 pieces of equipment ready to be used in response to the storm on Saturday, including 200 salt trucks, 300 sidewalk plows and 600 road plows.

Mills said that salt will be the “first line of defence” with about 10,000 to 12,000 tonnes expected to be used. He said that due to the extreme cold, the salt will also be mixed with an additive that used to improve its effectiveness in frigid conditions.

“It is a derivative from beet juice and it allows the salt to become more effective in cold temperatures. We only use it in extreme cold,” he said.

Mill said that plowing will begin on expressways once the total accumulation of snow reaches 2.5 centimetres, on main arterial roads once five centimetres of snow has landed and on local roads after eight centimetres.

He said that crews have been tracking the storm for some time and already pre-treated the roads earlier this week.

“There is some brine on the roads and that will help if we have to plow because that brine prevents the snow and ice from sticking to the road,” he said.

Concern for homeless amid extreme cold

With the coldest temperatures the city has seen so far this winter on tap all weekend, preparations are also underway to ensure that nobody is left out in the cold.

The city has about 835 available spaces at 10 winter respite sites to supplement the 7,277 spaces in its shelter system.

There will also be a warming centre available at Metro Hall each that an extreme cold weather alert is in effect. The current extreme cold weather alert has been in effect since Wednesday and is likely to persist through the weekend.

“We have done a lot of planning for this winter and certainly our experience from last winter has informed that. We have made sure that we have lots of extras space available in our respite system and we have also improved our central intake system to make sure people can get access to shelter,” Mary-Anne Bédard, who is a director in Toronto’s Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, told CP24 on Friday morning.

Bédard said that street up to seven street outreach teams will also be out and and about from 7 a.m. to midnight this weekend checking on the homeless and encouraging them to seek shelter at city facilities.

For those who refuse to come inside, Bédard said that staff will offer them blankets and sleeping bags and “check on them continually to make sure that they are safe.”