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Waterloo region got a little preview of winter on Sunday with a record-breaking snowfall blanketing much of southwestern Ontario.
Environment Canada issued a special weather statement on Friday saying a low pressure system could bring significant snowfall to the area.
The snow fell most of Sunday between Windsor and Ottawa causing havoc on the roads and a snow fall in Waterloo region not seen in a century.
Broken records
Environment Canada meteorologist Rob Kuhn of Kitchener posted on the social media platform X that the previous record for a large snowfall on Nov. 9 was about 100 years ago.
Kitchener saw around 14 centimetres on Sunday, Kuhn wrote, adding the previous record of 10.2 centimetres was set in both 1921 and 1933.
New daily snowfall record for 09-Nov in Kitchener: 14.0 cm. Previous record 10.2 cm set in 1921 and 1933. #onstorm #onwx
Meantime the Eric D. Soulis Weather Station at the University of Waterloo broke down the snowfall amounts in two-hour increments.
At 10 a.m. on Sunday they reported six centimetres of snow had fallen. By the last update Sunday night at 11 p.m., 13 centimetres had fallen.
Tow drivers kept busy during storm day
The first winter storm of the season made it difficult for drivers and kept GTA tow truck driver James Michael busy.
“Today’s been pretty crazy,” Michael told CBC News.
“The roads are wet and all it takes is for everyone to crash. It’s just a little slippery.”
OPP Sergeant Kerry Schmidt says a long list of collisions were reported on provincial roads and highways.
“In the last 24 hours, the OPP here in the GTA responded to about 220 collisions,” said Schmidt.
“In addition to another 120 or so incidents where vehicles were in the ditch or stuck and we were not able to attend. So a very busy 24 hours.”
Waterloo Regional Police Service received 45 reports of motor vehicle collisions across the region in a 24-hour period.
Both regional police and OPP are reminding drivers to take extra precautions when driving during winter weather.
Police advice includes:
- Reducing speed and increasing following distance.
- Ensuring vehicles are equipped with winter tires.
- Clearing snow and ice from all windows, mirrors and lights before driving.
