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Toronto’s Earliest Significant Snow Since 1969 Drops 10 cm, Tests City’s New Plow Plan

Police logged about 340 snow-related incidents during cleanup operations across the Greater Toronto Area.

Overview

  • Pearson Airport measured 9.8 centimetres on Nov. 9, marking Toronto’s earliest 5‑plus‑centimetre accumulation since Oct. 22, 1969.
  • Ontario Provincial Police reported roughly 340 snow-related incidents in 24 hours, including about 220 collisions and a few serious injuries on Highway 400.
  • City crews pre-deployed salters and snow-clearing equipment and opened warming centres to support vulnerable residents.
  • A low-pressure system spread snow across southern Ontario after an Environment Canada special weather statement, with about 2–16 centimetres reported regionally, including 16 cm in Hamilton and 11.7 cm in Ottawa.
  • The snowfall arrived well ahead of climate normals—average first 5 cm on Dec. 12 and median first 10 cm on Dec. 27—and is being treated as an early test of Mayor Olivia Chow’s five‑pillar snow‑removal plan.