Toronto

18 hours of ice pellets: Here's the April ice storm by the numbers

As the city shakes itself off after a stormy weekend, a rainfall warning remains in effect for Toronto. But now that the worst is over, here’s a look at the April ice storm by the numbers.

City takes stock of spring storm, saying Toronto hit by 6 hours of freezing rain, 10 hours of rain

Stefan Randstrom clears ice from his sidewalk in Toronto on Sunday. The city was hit by 18 hours of ice pellets, six hours of freezing rain and 10 hours of rain over the weekend. (Cole Burston /Canadian Press)

As the city shakes itself off after a stormy weekend, a rainfall warning remains in effect for Toronto.

Environment Canada is warning commuters to take extra care on the roads and watch for the potential of flooding, especially in low-lying areas. 

Now that the worst is over, here's a look at the April ice storm by the numbers.

City pelted by rain, ice pellets, freezing rain

Toronto sustained a thrashing during the weekend's extreme weather.

From Saturday morning to 2 p.m. Monday, the city was pummelled by 18 hours of falling ice pellets, six hours of freezing rain and 10 hours of rain, according to a city news release on Monday.

The precipitation added up to between seven to 12 centimetres of ice pellets, with slightly more than 79 millimetres of rain recorded at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. At the city's downtown Billy Bishop Airport, meanwhile, gusting winds reached speeds of 96 kilometres an hour. 

6,940 tonnes of salt used

The city relied mostly on salt trucks, and not plows, to clear roads this weekend, with 6,940 tonnes of salt being used so far.

Although expressways and arterial roads were plowed, Barbara Gray, general manager of Toronto's transportation services division, said salt trucks were deployed when the ice started to melt as temperatures rose on Monday.

The city is relying on salt trucks instead of plows to clear Toronto roadways in the aftermath of the spring ice storm Sunday in an effort to prevent flooding when the ice buildup starts to melt. (John Rieti/CBC)

Over 82,000 Hydro One customers in the dark

Hydro One has been busy responding to thousands of outages since Saturday morning. So far, the provincial utility says more than 300,000 customers have had their power restored. 

"Hydro One is out in full force today," Nancy Clark, a spokesperson for the company told CBC Toronto on Monday.

More than 50,000 remain in the dark. 

Over 3,000 calls made to 311

Sunday was a busy day for operators at 311, the city's non-emergency phone line. A total of 3,115 calls were made that day, which is a 273 per cent increase compared to the previous week.   

Of those calls, 534 were tree-related. There are currently 60 forestry crews responding to fallen or damaged tree calls, the city said on Monday.

A tree limb snapped off in the city's east end on Sunday. (Mark Bochsler/CBC)

Residents called for a number of reasons, including hydro outages, low heat, or no heat bylaw enforcement questions and the status of recreation programs and classes.

Toronto Fire Services were on the run as well, with trucks responding to 1,330 emergency incidents around the city.

Hundreds of flights delayed, cancelled

This weekend's storm has caused several days of delays at Pearson International Airport, and hundreds of flights have been cancelled.

On Monday, 139 arriving flights and nearly 100 departing flights were cancelled, with 11 arriving flights already cancelled Tuesday. The weekend saw more than 600 flights were cancelled and many others were delayed.

Billy Bishop airport, meanwhile, cancelled all departing flights on Sunday and cancelled both 36 arriving and departing flights Monday. 

Airport officials say they are doing everything they can to get people moving, but they are encouraging everyone to check the status of their flights before coming to the airport.

Long wait times at the baggage claim led to some "tense and rowdy" moments, according to Peel Regional Police, and officers were called in to manage the situation. 

A GTAA spokesperson confirmed that a number of baggage handlers contracted by Sunwing and Air Transat called in sick, which caused a staffing shortage for incoming flights for those carriers. 

A traveller waits at Pearson International Airport on Monday after hundreds of flights had to be cancelled or delayed because of the weather over the weekend. (Paul Smith/CBC)

Good news — 4 C in forecast tonight

The first month of spring hasn't been very, well, spring-like, but the near future is looking brighter with temperatures expected to rise to 4 C by Monday evening.

Temperatures will dip again on Tuesday to 2 C, with a chance of flurries, but Wednesday may be the light at the end of the tunnel that residents been waiting for — with a high of 9 C that day, and a mix of sun and clouds.

Two women take photos of cherry blossoms at Toronto's High Park Sunday, May 5, 2013. Nearly a month into spring, and Toronto is recovering from a very un-spring-like mid-April ice storm. (Graeme Roy/Canadian Press)