Rainfall warning in effect for Toronto; mix of warnings province-wide

CTV Toronto: Making room for the water City crews spent most of the day clearing ice to make room for the water from rainfall and melting snow, Natalie Johnson reports.

A winter storm is bringing a miserable blend of rain, snow, freezing rain and powerful wind gusts to Ontario.

In the GTA, Environment Canada warned of a wet and blustery day, with wind gusts as strong as 80 kilometres-per-hour at times.

Rain ended in the afternoon but there is a 40 per cent chance of flurries and the temperature will be steady near 1 C.

The conditions are posing a challenge for motorists and pedestrians because roads and sidewalks are icy, and water is pooling in some locations.

Officers responded to several crashes, including an incident in Nobleton where a tanker truck wound up on its side in a ditch.

An underpass at Royal York Road and Dundas Street West flooded and a police cruiser and a car became stranded in water on Mammoth Hall Trail, near Markham Road and Sheppard Avenue East. The water was up to the vehicles' bumpers.

Chris, the man whose car became stranded along with the police vehicle, said he was following another vehicle and didn't think he would have a problem getting through the water.

“I didn’t think it was that high. Halfway through, my car shuts off and I was stranded,” Chris said.

Instead of getting out and walking through the cold water, he waited inside his car until his dad arrived. His dad opened the door to his minivan and Chris hopped in. Later, Chris' car and the police cruiser were towed away.

There were scattered power outages, with some of the largest occurring in Vaughan, Bowmanville and Orangeville, and there were reports of flooded basements.

Stay away from bodies of water

Conservation authorities are urging people to stay away from rivers, streams and lakes because water levels and flows are higher, the ice cover is fragile and the water temperature is cold.

Ryan Ness, senior manager of research and development with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, said streams continue to rise but it doesn’t look like there will be significant flooding in the Toronto area in the storm's wake.

Laurian Farrell, a senior manager of flood risk management with TRCA, said the Toronto area didn’t get as much rain as feared, and the authority is hoping for a slow snow melt to ease flooding concerns in the weeks ahead.

She said the potential for ice jams on rivers is increasing flooding gears and the next four to six weeks will be a critical period.

Elsewhere in Ontario, Environment Canada issued a wind warning for communities near Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, and a freezing rain warning for the Ottawa region.