Toronto on track to see one of snowiest seasons on record as winter weather ushers in the first day of spring
Friday marks the first day of spring but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the forecast.
Toronto was under a special weather statement this morning and parts of the GTA were under a freezing rain warning, yellow alert, including areas in York, Peel, and Halton regions.
The messy mix of winter weather will transition to rain in most areas on Friday afternoon.
Toronto will see a high of 6 C on Friday and more mild weather is expected this weekend. Environment Canada is calling for cloudy skies and a high of 5 C on Saturday. Sunday will see rain and a high of 6 C.
Snow returns to the forecast next week.
‘The snow season carries on’
This winter has already become one of the snowiest on record for Toronto and the season is not over yet.
Retired Environment Canada Senior Climatologist David Phillips said so far this winter, 189.2 centimetres of snow has fallen at Pearson, about 75 centimetres more than the average total snowfall at the airport over the course of a winter season.
Phillips noted that comparing snowfall totals to previous years isn’t exactly apples to apples given how much time we have left for the snow to fly this year.
“The snow hasn’t ended. We are seeing snow today and this week,” Phillips said in an interview with CP24.com on Friday. “The snow season carries on.”
The snowiest winter on record at Pearson was back in 1938/39, when 207.4 centimetres of snow fell.
Three other winter seasons saw snowfall totals surpass what we’ve already seen in the city this season.
Phillips noted the average amount of snow Toronto typically sees between now and the last snowfall of the season is about 11 centimetres. If Toronto sees another 11 centimetres in that time, this year would mark the second snowiest winter on record, surpassing the 196 centimetres recorded in 1949/50.
Regardless of records, Phillips said this winter has been a daunting one for Torontonians.
“If no more snow fell, we will still have 65 per cent more snow than we normally would get,” he added.
He noted the ground was covered in snow for nearly two solid months without the typical thaw that unearths grass and dirt below.
“It always seemed to be on your mind,” Phillips said.
