The first major winter storm of the season started to sweep through Southern Ontario on Sunday night and lasted until mid-afternoon Monday before the snow tapered off.
Many areas overachieved their forecasted snowfall totals, such as Oshawa, where 55 cm was reported. The snow fell quickly, with snowfall rates between 5 and 10 cm per hour, with many people finding scenes like this one shared on Twitter, with their cars under piles of snow.
Many school boards across the region cancelled school buses and closed schools for the first day back to in-person learning. The DVP and Gardiner Expressway in Toronto were both closed by Toronto Police to free stuck vehicles and allow snow plows to clean up the road. They were not the only highways that had issues, as almost every 400-series highway in the GTA was at a standstill due to multiple collisions.
Photos of disabled vehicles on 400-Series Highways in the GTA. Traffic Cameras via 511Ontario.
Environment Canada issued a rare Blizzard Warning for a few areas of the GTA, such as Toronto, Hamilton, Oakville and Oshawa, as well as Niagara Falls. A second group of Blizzard Warnings was issued for the Ottawa area. Both warnings were issued due to snowfall rates of 6-10 cm/hr and 400 metre visibility.
Below are the snowfall totals released by Environment Canada. Please note that these amounts do not complete a final report.
