Winter packs a punch
Niagara was hit with the brunt of a heavy winter storm as it passed through southern Ontario on Tuesday, but residents made it through relatively unscathed other than a few minor collisions and closed workplaces.
Environment Canada meteorologist Mark Schuster said snow accumulation varied widely throughout Niagara, during the first snowstorm of the season.
Although Niagara District Airport recorded about 10 centimetres of snow Tuesday morning, Schuster said he’d heard reports from people throughout the area that they estimated as much as 40 cm of snow had fallen by then.
“I think the amounts are highly variable because of the very strong winds that are accompanying this weather system. It’s always harder to measure the snow when it’s cold and the snow has a tendency to be blown around.”
Although Hamilton received 20 to 30 cm of accumulation by the time the storm was about half over, “I suspect that in Niagara it might end up being higher, because I’ve already heard some reports of in excess of 30 cm,” he said.
Schuster said the storm was expected to continue throughout Tuesday night, before petering out this morning.
Although the Toronto area escaped the worst effects of the storm, Schuster said St. Catharines and the rest of Niagara, as well as Hamilton, got hit far worse.
Moisture from Lake Ontario made a “huge difference” in the snowfall levels.
“For example, if you go a little bit further north towards the Toronto area, they escaped with only a couple centimetres. But from Hamilton to Niagara, there’s tons of snowfall with this system so far.”
It’s often south Niagara that is hit hardest by winter storms, but Schuster said this time it was the north end that received the bulk of the snowfall.
“In this case, the winds are from the northeast so areas closer to Lake Ontario are going to be hit harder. Fort Erie is often hit the hardest with lake-effect snows, but this is a case where the winds are from the opposite direction so areas closer to Lake Ontario are getting the brunt of the snowfall this time.”
Niagara College, Brock University, most municipal offices throughout the region, as well as community organizations such as Community Support Services and the YMCA were closed due to the inclement weather.
Most public and Catholic schools students enjoyed the opportunity to go tobogganing for perhaps their first time this winter while off school for the March break.
Niagara Region delayed regularly scheduled garbage and recycling collection due to the storm. Tuesday collection was rescheduled to Saturday. Today’s service was to remain unchanged.
The storm meant a busy night for tow truck operators, including Boe Doumani from SOS Towing. While he managed to find time to nap between calls, the tow-truck operator said he spent the wee hours Tuesday winching out three vehicles as well as towing away several more vehicles that were involved in four collisions the company’s four trucks responded to. He expected to be busier as the storm was projected to continue through the day and night to come.
“The rush hour in the morning was pretty busy, but I believe the rush hour in the afternoon is going to be a lot worse. Everyone’s going to be flying home after work.”
He said many of the people helped out overnight were trying to make it through the snow with bald tires.
Doumani said the tires on one woman’s car he pulled from a ditch were so threadbare the steel belt was exposed.
“I kid you not,” Doumani said. “I said, ‘Ma’am, you need to get off the highway right now and go get some new tires.’”
As bad as the storm was, he said it pales in comparison to some of the storms that have hit the area in the six years SOS Towing has been operating in the area.
“This isn’t as bad as two years ago when there was probably an accident every five minutes,” he said. “We were hooking cars up, driving them off to the parking lot and coming back for more.”
Rick Mauro from CAA Niagara said the call volume its tow truck operators responded to wasn’t excessive, despite the weather.
By about noon, he said CAA had just under 100 calls.
“A typical day for us is about 200,” he said.
Nevertheless, CAA had 27 tow-truck operators on the road responding to a wide variety of calls.
CAA vice-president of automotive services Bill Willard said none of the crashes responded to were serious collisions. There were a few fender-benders and vehicles sustaining suspension damage from hitting curbs, “but so far thankfully nothing major,” he said.
Niagara Regional Police reported “minimal collisions” in the region related to the weather.
“Looks like people are for the most part either staying off the roads or are driving cautiously,” said Const. Virginia Moir.
Police later took to social media to warn motorists to use caution: “All of Niagara roadways are snow covered and visibility is poor.”
OPP spokesman Kerry Schmidt shared a similar message.
“The roads are mostly wet and bare, but you jump on a lane that has some snow or slush you could end up sliding around a little bit,” he said. “Don’t panic, look where you want to go, no aggressive steering, no aggressive braking and you should make it if you take your time.”
Mauro suspected the closures of numerous facilities and offices may have helped reduce the number of calls for help, as well as “lots of folks heeding the recommendations of officials to cancel any non-essential travel.”
“It’s also March break, so the folks who did not head south may indeed have just stayed in,” Mauro said.
“We may see a bit of an increase in calls (Wednesday) as the weather clears and folks need to head back to work.”