Local communities ‘prepare for anything’ as winter storms loom over GTHA

Commuters on their way home Thursday night may face longer drives, with snow squalls hitting various parts of our region.

Ontario Provincial Police are warning drivers in southern Ontario to brace for the worst, as we could see hazardous snow squalls around Hamilton.

Commuters on their way home Thursday night may face longer drives, with snow squalls hitting various parts of our region.

Ontario Provincial Police are warning drivers in southern Ontario to brace for the worst, as we could see hazardous snow squalls around Hamilton.

Whenever there’s a threat of a snow storm, there’s always the question, “how much snow is coming?”

But a lot of the time, it’s anyone’s best guess.

“Based on the weather forecast, we’re seeing at about 5 – 10 cm, with potentially a bit more out in the west areas of the city,” said Bob Marques, the superintendent of programs and contracts at the City of Hamilton.

The City of Hamilton has 500 pieces of equipment ready. Anything from plows to sidewalk clearing bobcats.

“Right now we’ve been monitoring the weather all day,” said Marques. “We have all our trucks out across the city, on the road and some of our contractors, so we’re monitoring a lot of the main routes right now — especially the escarpment crossings and the Red Hill and the LINC (Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway).

READ MORE: Parts of Ontario to see up to 60 cm of snow, heavy wind this week: Environment Canada

“What we can do is pre-salt the roads, escarpment crossings closer to the rush hour, because of the volume of traffic we’d like to get a little salt on that road and help break that bond before the storm starts happening,” said Marques.

It’s likely that your snow clearing equipment is tucked away neatly in the back corner of your shed, with a million other things in front of it.

It is recommended you take the time and get it out today.

“It’s really a combo of snow — not in areas that may be in Hamilton or Niagara, maybe less than 10 cm,” said David Phillips, a climatologist with Environment Canada.

Phillips says what areas like Niagara, Hamilton, Halton and Brantford could get, in terms of snow, will differ greatly.

“What alarms me is that you can go from a clear situation to a whiteout, black pavement to black ice,” said Phillips. “The rapidly changing conditions will make it tricky. On a trip to the grocery store or to another community, you may find incredibly different conditions from beginning to end.”

OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt says drivers in southern Ontario should prepare for anything.

“You may go from blue skies, clear conditions and dry roads, to limited visibility, snow-packed roads and treacherous driving in a matter of a hundred meters,” said Schmidt.

Schmidt suggests driving with your full headlight system on, both hands on the steering wheel, a focus on driving and to share the road safely with others.

READ MORE: Hydro One warns of possible extended power outages ahead of winter storms across Ontario