Region gets 12 centimetres of snow, tire shops get swamped with calls

WATERLOO REGION — The region got its first dump of snow and many drivers are scrambling to get their winter tires put on.

Local automotive shops are bombarded with calls from people asking to have their winter tires installed as the snowy season arrived earlier than expected.

“We’re absolutely slain with it,” said Therese Monaghan of Beverly Tire and Auto in Kitchener.

She said 15 people called her before 7:30 a.m. Friday, and she had to tell them all the same thing: You have to wait until Dec. 5. “Over 20 years I’ve been doing this and I’ve never seen it this busy.”

Thursday’s snowfall is unusual for this early in the month, according to Frank Seglenieks of the University of Waterloo’s weather station.

“It is very early. Usually, snowfalls are happening in late November. So it is surprising for some people.”

So far, 22 centimetres of snow has fallen this month, including the 12 centimetres the region got on Thursday. The average for November is 13 centimetres, but Seglenieks warns that the amount of snowfall so far this month isn’t historically unusual.

“In 2008, we had 40 centimetres of snow in November,” he said.

“Fall is always variable. It’s a battle between summerish weather and winterish weather.”

As much as people like to speculate what an early snowfall could mean for the rest of the season, Seglenieks said there is no correlation between an early snowfall and a longer winter. And even this cold, snowy weather may not last as temperatures are expected to rise next week.

“We might have green lawns in a week or so.”

Waterloo Regional Police were also busy as slippery, icy roads snarled traffic throughout the region Thursday and into Friday morning. Police say there were 135 reports of collisions between 8 a.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. Friday.

Kevin Sullivan of Sullivan Automotive in Kitchener said he has a wait-list on the go for anyone lucky enough to snag a cancelled appointment.

“Our phones have been ringing off the hook since that first snowfall,” he said.

While most of his regular clients had already made appointments to get their snow tires installed — he was already booked up for the next two weeks before Thursday’s snowfall — he said just as many people were frantically calling at the last minute.

Monaghan thinks people have become more proactive about having their winter tires installed earlier in the year. She said many people made appointments as early as October.

Seglenieks is one of those people. He had his winter tires put on two weeks ago.

But without fail, there are many drivers who wait until the first heavy snow hits the ground to scramble and make that appointment, Monaghan said.

Environment Canada was expecting snow into Friday evening, with another two centimetres expected.

There are periods of snow expected Saturday as well, about two to four centimetres’ worth. It will be cloudy with a high of 1 C and low of -4 C.