Toronto braves onslaught of huge snowfall

Toronto was pounded Saturday by a major winter storm as it headed east through Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, wreaking havoc.

Five centimetres snow fell on the city overnight, and about a dozen more had fallen by mid-afternoon Saturday, with a total of 40 cm expected by night.

Marred by limited visibility, streets were mainly empty in the downtown area as authorities asked people not to venture out in their cars if possible.

Traffic on Highway 401 was moving slowly across the city amid near-whiteout conditions, as were cars in both directions on Highway 400.

Police had to close the 401 near Kipling Avenue for a short time early Saturday to allow salt trucks to move through the area.

"We've had over 600 collisions since the storm started," Const. Dave Woodford of the Ontario Provincial Police said. 

"A lot of them are single vehicles into the ditch, into the guardrail — nothing serious in nature, some minor injuries — but still, it creates carnage on our roadways because if somebody gets in a collision, everyone else is slowing up."

Woodford advised anyone who couldn't avoid driving to go slowly, keep extra space behind other vehicles and, where possible, stick to one lane.

Frustration at airport

The Toronto Transit Commission reported that subway service was normal, but most of its surface routes were delayed by 15-20 minutes.

The storm and accompanying winds, gusting to 60 km/h, cancelled or delayed more than 280 flights at Pearson International Airport. Many early planes took off, but hundreds of people who landed Friday night and Saturday expecting to catch connecting legs to vacation and work destinations were stuck in the departure lounge.

"There's a lot of frustration here this morning," CBC's Sébastien St. François reported from the Toronto airport. "We’ve talked to a lot of people and they haven't been shy. They voiced their frustration."

Airport officials were urging passengers with departures scheduled for late Saturday to call ahead to their airline to check the status of their flight.

Most of Toronto's colleges and universities cancelled weekend classes and shuttered their libraries:

• York University shut down its Keele and Glendon campuses, where offices and libraries were closed, classes were cancelled and exams postponed.
• Ryerson University, including libraries and classes, was closed starting at noon.
• Centennial College cancelled its open house.
• Seneca College cancelled Saturday classes.
• Humber College cancelled afternoon classes and tests.
• The University of Toronto remained open at all three campuses.

The city's transportation director, Myles Currie, said this winter's weather was having an unusually wrenching impact on Toronto's streets.

"The freezing and thawing cycles that we've been experiencing the last six weeks have really contributed to a pothole increase," Currie said, "and we're looking at a warm-up [next] week that will result in more potholes."

Currie added that by the end of the weekend, Toronto will have spent $45 million of the $67 million budgeted for snow removal for all of 2008 — with more storms expected before spring arrives.