Snow spawns chaos on roads in Toronto, surrounding areas

With the official start of winter still more than a month away, a relatively minor snowfall created traffic chaos on roads in and around Toronto Wednesday and resulted in delays at Pearson airport. 

Most parts of southern Ontario were expected to get at least five centimetres of snow on Wednesday, according to a special weather statement issued by Environment Canada.

The statement said the weather might be "a nuisance" for the evening commute — particularly in the Toronto region.

Sure enough, the snow arrived for many just in time for the drive home and was causing problems on roads across the region.

Sgt. Kerry Schmidt told CBC News that the OPP had responded to nearly 450 collisions Wednesday, with more than 65 collisions still being dealt shortly after 10 p.m. 

While there were no major injuries, Schmidt said that most of the incidents were single vehicle collisions due to drivers going to fast, resulting in a loss of control.

In Burlington, Ont., a car struck an OPP cruiser responding to another incident. The officer was not in the cruiser at the time, but the vehicle's emergency lights were on the at the time. Schmidt said the incident highlights the need for drivers to slow down when driving under winter conditions. 

On one street in Toronto's west end, about a dozen cars were left abandoned after drivers failed to make it up a steep hill. The hill on Humbercrest Boulevard and Langmuir Crescent, is known as a winter menace, but one neighbour told CBC News it was "the worst I've seen in 25 years."

At Pearson International Airport, dozens of flights were delayed and some were even cancelled. 

Benjamin Sharma tweeted that it took him an hour and five minutes to make it from the Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue area to Leslie Street and Eglinton Avenue — a distance of about four kilometres.

"I'd have beaten an hour, too, but burned ten minutes in the Home Depot lot in Leaside, when I tried to go back north too soon," he told CBC News via Twitter.

He was making the drive to get snow tires, which are now being installed on his vehicle.

'It's a little shocking'

Sharma wasn't the only person trying to get prepared for the winter, which was making an appearance earlier than some expected.

Nina McDonough was at a Home Depot stocking up on salt for her house.

"I've been told all the horror stories from last year, so I thought four bags [of salt] would start me off well, although I'm thinking I might need more since it’s already snowing and it’s November," she told CBC News.

McDonough said she recently moved to the city from Virginia.

"It's a little shocking, but I have lived in New Hampshire before, so I know you don't get as much snow as you get there and I’m very happy that I don’t live in Buffalo right now," she said.

Store manager Rob Peters said salt sales have been brisk in recent days.

He estimates half the customers to visit the store in the last few days have bought salt, a snow shovel or a related product.

"It's put a lot of work on the team to make sure that we’re constantly keeping the shelves full," he told CBC News on Wednesday.

During the supper hour, Toronto police reported that traffic was moving slowly and local highways were both slippery and snow-covered.

Similar issues were being reported west of the city.

Shortly after 5 p.m., Peel Regional Police reported responding to nearly 30 collision-related calls. They were advising people to stay at home on Wednesday if possible, rather than head out on slippery roads.

In Halton Region, police reported that about 20 vehicles had become struck on an icy road in the Lower Base Line and 5th Line in Milton, Ont.

The snowfall and the ensuing problems on the roads have prompted various safe-driving reminders to motorists from police, the city and the provincial transportation ministry. Like the one from Toronto police Staff Sgt. Chris Boddy, who reminded motorists not to tweet weather pictures while driving.

The winter weather also prompted some anti-snow griping on Twitter:

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• On mobile? Click here to read the tweet above.

Andrew Ivimey, a comedian, pleaded for people to take it easy on the road.

"Toronto please learn how to drive in the snow. Slow and steady. Rushing home causes accidents. Don't drive like a jerk today. Stop it," he tweeted.

But others saw some of the benefits to the falling snow.

Jennifer Dawson tweeted that the city was "being prettified by snow today."

There were also the inevitable comparisons to Buffalo, N.Y., which has recently been hit by an astounding 150-plus centimetres of snow — at least 30 times the amount of snowfall hitting Toronto on Wednesday.

CBC's Colette Kennedy said the snow will likely end in Toronto sometime after 10 p.m. ET.

• On mobile? Click here to read the tweet above.