Toronto residents woke up Monday, Nov. 11, to an unusual winter wonderland following a major snowstorm that shattered two long-held weather records in early November.
The city was hit with 9.8 centimeters of snow on Sunday, November 9, and more snowfall followed overnight.
As Environment Canada reported, this is the heaviest November 9 in 54 years, breaking the record by 1.5 centimeters in 1971.
Additionally, the total amount of snowfall over the two days of the storm was the most snowfall Toronto has seen early in the season since October 1981.
“This is a very rare event for this much snow to fall this early in the Toronto area,” said Geoff Coulson, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
He explained that it is not uncommon for there to have been light snow earlier in November, but the amount of snow on this particular date was the first to be known at Pearson International Airport, the city’s weather station.
The disruptive storm affected the entire region, with Hamilton getting 17 cm and Ottawa 12 cm.
OPP reportedly attended more than 200 crashes across the Greater Toronto Area due to the slippery conditions.
The City of Toronto responded by sending brine and salting operations on priority routes.
Even if at the start of the week or at the start of the season temperatures will not be able to exceed the seasonal average of 8°C, the first signs of winter will actually be attenuated by mid-week and temperatures will return to a more moderate range on Wednesday November 12.
