Environment Canada issues a weather statement for Toronto.
By Faiza Amin and Jake Kigar
Toronto has been placed under a special weather statement by Environment Canada Tuesday; it says the city could see a few centimetres of snow tonight that could move into tomorrow morning
Environment Canada’s Marie-Even Giguere told Humber News we will see more precipitation east of the city, but Toronto will still experience some winter weather.
“The storm is really heading to eastern Canada, which will bring less precipitation to people on the North and West side of the storms,” she said. “These sides are referred to as the cold side of the storm, which is where Toronto is expected to sit.”
The weather mix is expected to bring approximately three cm of snow, and a few milimetres of rain overnight and into the morning.
“The system might start as wet snow and then as the storm moves further east and mixes with arctic air, we’ll see mainly snow,” Giguere said, “Only a few centimetres in the city, with people near the lake seeing more rain.”
Steve Johnston from the City of Toronto’s transportation services told Humber News they’re prepared for whatever weather comes the city’s way.
“Our salters are ready to go,” Johnston said. “At this point, looking at the forecast, it looks like it will be a salting situation.”
“We’ll go out before the snow and lay out brine and then salt the roads once the weather starts.” Brine is a diluted salt and water mixture. Johnston says they will use the brine to control the initial snowfall.
Giguere said drivers should take extra caution on the roads tomorrow morning, especially during rush hour and those heading east.
“In this type of weather system, we usually see a lot of precipitation fall because of the amount of moisture it collects from the Gulf of Mexico,” she said.
Johnston said if the city sees 2.5 cm of snow they’ll plough the expressways and if it reaches five cm, they’ll plough main roads.
Environment Canada will release its official seasonal forecast on Dec. 1.
“At this point there is no indication of a clear seasonal pattern,” Giguere said. “It has been a neutral year so far, and a neutral index doesn’t tell us anything. I don’t see any consistency.”
Here at Humber, staff and students are preparing for the severe weather conditions. Jeff Gardiner, second year accounting student, told Humber News he’s prepared an emergency kit.
“I bought candles, canned food, and have a lot of blankets prepared just because you never know what to expect,” said Gardiner.