Toronto reacts with delight and frustration to biggest blizzard in years
Toronto woke up to a winter storm of epic proportions on Monday morning, with a thick blanketing of white stuff triggering a snow day for schools and causing havoc for commuters as salters and plows struggle to keep up.
Environment Canada issued an early morning blizzard advisory for the city, cars and roads already buried, warning of total snowfall amounts of up to 40 cm. Peak snowfall rates as high as 8 cm per hour are expected this morning and the conditions are already bringing a mix of chaos and delight, depending on who you ask.
Like any good weather event, there's a wide range of reactions to today's blast of snow. The most common is surprise at the sheer volume of snow that had piled up by the time alarm clocks started ringing on Monday morning, and the knowledge that there's even more on the way.
About 14” (35cm) of snow fell overnight in downtown Toronto. Another 15cm expected before it’s over this afternoon. #ONStorm #snowday pic.twitter.com/8waDUaMQWe
— Leon Kiriliuk (@leonkiriliuk) January 17, 2022
Some high-rise dwellers woke up to zero visibility, unable to see the massive accumulation of snow on the ground.
Yonge and Sheppard in #Toronto. You literally can’t see the other 10 buildings around us.#ONStorm #blizzard #SnowDay pic.twitter.com/61tNYvpKKX
— R 🏳️🌈 (@lgbtactivist45) January 17, 2022
Those closer to the ground woke up to see their streets completely buried and promptly noped out of their commutes.
Nope, not dealing with this crap. I'm working from home today!#Toronto #selfemployed #snowday #snow #homeoffice #DoYouWantToBuildASnowMan pic.twitter.com/Xs4h3KVNte
— Paul Foggia (@PaulFoggia) January 17, 2022
Others weren't so lucky, though, and were forced to contend with a whole lot of snow clearing — though some inconsiderate drivers clearly decided to opt-out of this basic courtesy to shave a few minutes off their day.
Welcome to #Brampton #ONStorm @weathernetwork pic.twitter.com/lhLf1Cr1L8
— Mike Dancy 🕹💾💻👾 (@MikeDancy) January 17, 2022
If you managed to make it out of the driveway, treacherous road conditions awaited.
Car can’t up the ramp and is stuck blocking the parking garage. #ONStorm #dlws #snowTO pic.twitter.com/sCWlU75xBG
— Peter Crock (@aperturesplit) January 17, 2022
A few drivers found themselves at a standstill, having to shovel themselves out to keep moving.
A car in my neighbourhood got stuck trying to turn. pic.twitter.com/t0Zuq4TfMW
— Katie Ch (@K8tCh) January 17, 2022
In some clips, it's impossible to tell where the road ends and the sidewalk begins.
#snowto pic.twitter.com/iISyqpZHuk
— Mohit Sharma (@Matsharma) January 17, 2022
People are getting creative with the hashtags for this storm, one tweet even taking aim at Ontario premier Doug Ford and the anti-vax rants of his eldest daughter.
Looks like #Snowmicron has begun in Toronto. It’s expected to be milder than #Snowmageddon2022 was originally projected to be. Doug Ford’s daughter says if you eat the yellow snow you’ll be fine. #ONStorm @CarymaRules pic.twitter.com/ne4J0TXPQt
— Cheryl Fullerton 🇨🇦🏳️🌈😷⚾️🏈 (@CherylFull) January 17, 2022
It's expected to keep on snowing through the day; however, the worst conditions are expected to pass by 11 a.m.
