You’d normally have to wait until after Christmas to see the kind of snowfall that fell across Toronto over the weekend.
The winter flurries set several records in the city, which has not seen this much snow on the ground this early in the year since at least 1969, Global News’ chief meteorologist Anthony Farnell said.
“Several notable records with this snowfall, including most snow on the ground for this date and the earliest five-cm-plus snowfall in over 55 years,” he said. “Going back to October 22, 1969.”
Almost exactly 10 cm of snow was reported at Toronto Pearson International Airport, higher than the 7.1 cm and 5.3 cm reported in October 1969.
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The snow was caused by a low-pressure system that blanketed much of southern Ontario, with 16 centimetres reported in Hamilton and 11.7 centimetres in Ottawa as of Monday morning.
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The snow led to difficult commuting conditions in and around Toronto.
Over 24 hours, police said they had responded to 340 snow-related incidents across the Greater Toronto Area. Roughly 220 of them were collisions.
The level of snow that landed over the weekend normally doesn’t come until well into the New Year, Farnell said.
“Last year, the first 10 cm storm wasn’t until February, which was then followed in quick succession by other snowstorms where plows ran into problems and led to a major mess in Toronto,” he said.
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This year will be the first test of Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow’s promise that snow removal this year would improve on last year’s disorganized response.
Chow said last week her new plan, agreed to in principle by councillors at executive committee, had five pillars.
They include considering revisiting contracts when they’re up for renewal, ending a 311 blackout period for reporting snow problems and buying new equipment.
At the heart of the new plan is a centralized response aiming to pull together disparate parties involved in snow clearing to ensure rapid action across the city.
New roads will also be designated as snow routes, where vehicles can be rapidly towed in the event of a major snowstorm.
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— With files from The Canadian Press
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
