Most GTA residents escaped without much shovelling after the rain cleared out most of the snow during a messy winter storm on Tuesday — but another system arriving before the weekend will likely have people brushing off their cars and reaching for the shovels.
The incoming storm could bring as much as 20 cm of heavy snow to the city from Friday evening into Saturday morning.
“I don’t think we’ll be as lucky with this one, we’ll be shovelling,” says CityNews 680 meteorologist Jill Taylor. “This will be a very high-impact storm with some heavy, wet snow.”
Taylor says the system should bring at least 10 cm of snow to most parts of the city, with a more accurate gauge of the accumulation expected as we get closer to Friday.
Toronto saw just over 5 cm of snow on Tuesday, but it was quickly followed by rising temperatures and more than 25 millimetres of rain during a wet, slushy storm that impacted the afternoon commute.
The heavy rain left roads and sidewalks slippery, but mostly clear of snow as the system moved out.
Some school buses were cancelled for the day in the northwest part of the GTA, but no major travel disruptions were reported.
Wednesday will see strong wind gusts with the occasional showers or flurries along with falling temperatures. A high of 6 C was reached in the early morning hours and the temperature will drop down to around 0 C for the afternoon.Taylor says the GTA could see a couple of centimetres of snow beginning around 7 a.m. Thursday morning before the major snow arrives late Friday.The storm heading into the weekend will also come with a significant temperature drop that will stick around for much of next week. A high of -6 C is expected on Sunday, and Taylor says the wind chill on late Sunday into Monday morning will be around -18.The city saw its first snowfall of the season last weekend, with most areas collecting around 5 cm. The recent wave of storms follows a relatively dry December that saw Toronto collect 13 cm of snow compared to 30 cm a year ago.The current conditions and extended forecast for Toronto can be found here.