Winter storm targeting Toronto, southern Ontario

As regions to the north and south of Toronto have been digging out from repeated blasts from Old Man Winter, the city has been spared. That is, until now.

A snowstorm predicted to blow through much of southern Ontario starting on Tuesday could dump between 10 and 20 centimetres of snow on the GTA. And the snow is expected to keep falling through to Wednesday.

Environment Canada pointed to a storm brewing in Oklahoma and said it is heading towards Toronto.

A winter storm watch was issued Monday morning for Windsor, Sarnia, London, Simcoe and surrounding regions.

About 10 centimetres is expected for the Toronto area on Tuesday, with another five to 10 centimetres coming by the end of Wednesday.

Forecasters are calling for blowing snow at times, which could create a driving hazard.

At the same time, temperatures which had been hanging just a few degrees below zero were set to plunge Monday night, hitting a low of -16C without wind chill.

In response, the City of Toronto issued an extreme cold weather alert. Alerts prompt a variety of extra city services to spring into action, particularly to help homeless people find shelter from the frigid temperatures.

Under the alert, the following services are available to help homeless people:

A Street Helpline also operates 24-hours a day and is designed to assist homeless people and frontline workers know where shelter and other services can be found. The toll-free telephone number is 1-866-392-3777 and can be reached by using any public telephone.

This is the ninth alert issued by the city since Jan. 26. Some of the previous alerts were extended for days as Toronto tried to stay warm during a deep-freeze snap.

With files from The Canadian Press