Toronto and GTA under winter storm watch, up to 30 cm of snow possible this weekend

Environment Canada senior climatologist Dave Phillips says this week’s snow is 'just nature making up' for last year's 'bummer of a winter.'

Torontonians are only getting a brief reprieve from the snow on Friday as another winter storm is expected to wallop the city over the weekend.

Environment Canada has issued a winter storm watch for the city and the rest of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, warning of snowfall accumulations of 15 to 25 centimetres and snowfall rates of three to six centimetres of snow per hour.

“Another significant winter storm is forecast to bring heavy snowfall and blowing snow to the area Sunday. Parts of the Niagara Peninsula may see a brief period of freezing rain Sunday morning,” the advisory issued Friday afternoon read.

“There remains some uncertainty as to which areas will receive the heaviest snowfall amounts.”

More than 20 cm of snow fell in downtown Toronto over a 24-hour period between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, marking the largest single snowfall recorded in the city since January 2022.

CP24 Meteorologist Bill Coulter says a “prolonged” storm system set to arrive on Saturday morning will bring an additional 15 to 30 cm of snowfall by Sunday evening.

“Saturday won’t seem like such a big deal. We will get some flurries pre-dawn and then we will get more consistent light system snow starting around 10 a.m.,” he said Friday.

“Sunday morning and then midday is when the storm will really be at its most intense with gusty winds and heavy rates of snowfall.”

Coulter said Torontonians would be wise to make plans indoors this weekend.

Drivers should consider staying off the roads if possible on Sunday morning and afternoon, he added.

‘A half a winter’s worth of snow’: Phillips

Environment Canada Senior Climatologist Dave Phillips told CP24 Friday afternoon that, with this weekend’s snow, the Toronto area could end up with “a half a winter’s worth of snow” within one week.

“It’s just relentless and the month of February has been particularly tough,” Phillips said, adding that on top of the snow, it’s going to stay cold.

“We’ve had so far about 94 centimetres of snow, about 30 per cent more snow that we normally would get for this time,” he added.

Phillips noted Toronto could still get 30 to 35 centimetres of snow for the rest of the winter season.

Strong winds could also cause some problems this weekend.

Phillips said the system arriving this weekend is coming from California, picking up moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.

“We haven’t had a lot of these large weather systems, but this week we’ve had come from Colorado, Texas, and now, the Pacific coast,” he said.

Phillips quips this week’s weather “is just nature making up” for last year’s “bummer of a winter.”

“One thing I like about snow: it covers all of the blemishes of Toronto. It’s just a winter wonderland out there,” he said.

“And so, your ugly lawn … it’s just as good as your neighbours under this kind of a situation.”

1,500 parking tickets issued during cleanup

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, the city’s general manager of Transportation Services, Barbara Gray, said a “declaration of a major snowstorm” remains in effect as they’re expecting at least another 25 cm this weekend.

Vincent Sferrazza, the city’s director of transportation services, said approximately 1,500 tickets have been issued to vehicles that were illegally parked on snow routes.

Though the city didn’t provide a collective dollar amount for tickets issued, fines range from $75 to $200, Gray noted.

“We will be actively enforcing throughout the weekend, all of our parking enforcement,” he said. “If you are parked in those areas, we ask you to move those cars.”

Sferrazza adds that residents can expect “large snow windrows,” left at the end of their driveway after plows clear the road.

During yesterday’s cleanup, he said, cycling infrastructure had to be cleared “at least four times” adding that circumstance is “rare” and equivalent to “60,000 lane kilometres of roadway.”

TTC, GO Transit preparing for snow

In an email to CTV News Toronto, the TTC says they are preparing “rail yards, garages, and critical infrastructure,” ahead of this weekend.

Officials are encouraging motorists to “stay off the roads and take transit to get around the city this weekend,” adding that there is no scheduled subway closures on Lines 1, 2, or 4.

For GO Transit users, Metrolinx is modifying its weekend schedule due to the weekend weather. All GO train lines and GO bus routes will run on a Saturday schedule throughout the long weekend.

Metrolinx noted that the Stouffville and Barrie lines, as well as the UP Express, are not expected to have any changes.

Here’s what else GO Transit users need to know this weekend:

Lakeshore West: Trains that are normally scheduled to start or end at Oakville will not run. During these service adjustments, trains will continue to run every 30 minutes between Union Station and Oakville GO. There is no change to regular service for customers between Bronte and Niagara Falls.

Lakeshore East: GO train service will be modified to run every 30 minutes between Union Station and Oshawa GO.

Kitchener: On Saturday, Feb. 15, we will add four more Kitchener trains to support customers travelling during winter reading week.

According to Environment Canada, Saturday’s forecast will be “cloudy” with around 5 cm of snow beginning in the late morning. Experts say, Sunday will also see snow throughout the day, with a 40 per cent chance of flurries beginning in the evening.