

Chris Fox and Paul Johnston, CP24.com





Environment Canada has ended a special weather statement for Toronto and much of the Greater Toronto Area as cleanup efforts continue after an Alberta Clipper dumped snow on the city and other parts of southern Ontario Thursday.

The snowfall began late Thursday morning and continued through the evening. Approximately five centimeters of snow fell in and around the city, with slightly higher totals recorded north of Toronto, CP24 meteorologist Chris Potter said.

In and around the city, the snow has created some problems for both commuters and police.

‘It’s been a busy afternoon,” Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said. “Typically we’ll see just over a hundred collisions in a given day. We’ve already seen over 150 collisions just in the last six hours.”

Most of the collisions have been single vehicle, and have been caused by drivers not adjusting to the conditions, Schmidt said.

“Fortunately no one has been seriously injured, but it’s been a slow drive for many people today.”

The conditions are also believed to be responsible for a GO bus collision Thursday night.

According to Metrolinx, 21 passengers were aboard the bus when it struck a guardrail on the ramp from Highway 407 to Yonge Street.

The bus sustained minor damage, Metrolinx said. No injuries have been reported.

In the city, Hector Moreno, manager of road operations for the City of Toronto, said that plows would be dispatched for city streets beginning around 8 p.m.

Plowing and salting on sidewalks is set to begin around midnight.

Earlier Thursday, Coun. Norm Kelly said the city has 600 snow plows, 300 sidewalk plows and 200 salt trucks on standby in the event of significant snowfall.

As the snow tapered off, the temperature began to drop Thursday night.

Environment Canada said the temperature is expected to fall to -11 C Friday and the cold weather will persist into next week.

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