Ice chunks are falling from buildings in downtown Toronto

Flying patio chairs aren't the only hazard to watch out for this week in Toronto's skyscraper-stacked downtown core.

Sharp, heavy shards of frozen water are dripping from the sky today as temperatures ever-so-slightly rise, prompting buildings to shed the layers of ice they've been rocking since Tuesday's winter storm.

They're not breaking windows or tearing holes through the Skydome like we saw last April with the CN Tower, but falling icicles can be deadly to humans from towers of all heights at the right speed and angle—which is why Toronto Police have been closing off some city sidewalks today.

Falling ice, Bloor St/ Yonge St - large chunks of ice falling from a building at the intersection - Bloor St is now closed to pedestrians pic.twitter.com/uhoXMRFJQp

— Alfredo Colangelo (@CityAlfredo) February 14, 2019

Yonge Street has been closed off to both to pedestrians and vehicles between College and Gerrard Streets since around 10:45 a.m. this morning on account of falling ice.

Bloor was closed not too long after from Yonge Street to Park Road for the same reason.

Ice is falling from 1 Bloor Street West in #Toronto. pic.twitter.com/jb7dmTDglW

— carlososorio (@carlososorio) February 14, 2019

"We are receiving reports from various locations around the city for falling ice," wrote Toronto Police in an advisory around 2 p.m., after warning of several different hot spots around the city throughout the day. 

"At this time as temperatures have gotten a bit milder, we'd like to urge everyone to please use caution as you go about your day, particularly in the downtown area."

Indeed. Torontonians have been sharing footage on Twitter all day of potentially deadly ice rocks dropping down from above.

Sheets of ice falling in downtown Bay Adelaide Centre bldg. #torontoweather pic.twitter.com/ZLo3aP67w7

— Hyungwon Kang (@Kangphoto) February 14, 2019

In some cases, the ice is coming down in sheets.

Look up downtown Torontonians, ice is falling in sheets from the towers. This is a building on Bremner. #lookup #fallingice #torontostorm pic.twitter.com/FEJXp9mDob

— Laura Brown (@lf_brown) February 14, 2019

In others, they're more like snow shards.

Shards of ice are falling from the TD buildings downtown. Be careful everyone! #occupationalhazard #becareful #toronto #tdcentre pic.twitter.com/Qj0zskOJVJ

— Mishka Alarcon (@MishkaAlarcon) February 14, 2019

And the taller the building, the scarier the potential fallout if someone were to get hit.

Ice falling from Toronto’s Aura condo made for a treacherous walk north on Yonge St. Police on site and the street is blocked off. This is a new building and one has to wonder why the inevitable ice and snow of our climate wasn’t better taken into account in the design. @CTBUH pic.twitter.com/87vupx7R2e

— Loretta Ryan (@LorettaRyan) February 14, 2019

In many cases, you can hear the ice crack when it hits the hard pavement below.

On en est là...
Rue Yonge fermée à Toronto en raison de chute de glace d’une tour à condos. LA rue principale de la Ville reine.
>Folie des tours à condos à effets imprévus. «Construits trop vite, sans penser à ça», me dit employé de la ville de Toronto.#topoli #ONstorm #météo pic.twitter.com/LrXcPjRHwK

— Étienne Fortin-Gauthier (@EtienneFG) February 14, 2019

Of course, as many point out, it's not the first time this has happened in downtown Toronto and it likely won't be the last. Perhaps not even the last this week, with another cold weather spurt on the way.

Toronto:
-densely builds 90 storey glass condos
-is winter almost half the year
-acts surprised when all of downtown rains ice daggers https://t.co/NalkElB4kh

— 🛋 rachel 🥔 (@rrboola) February 14, 2019

Stay safe out there, friends.