Toronto still under winter storm warning Sunday as snow hammers city

With snow hammering Toronto overnight Saturday, Environment Canada is warning that the heaviest snowfall is still to come and travel conditions could "rapidly deteriorate" Sunday morning.

The city remains under a winter storm warning, with 15 to 25 centimetres of snow expected to accumulate by the end of Sunday, Environment Canada said in an updated warning Sunday. 

Accumulating snow could make for hazardous travel conditions, and blowing snow could reduce visibility, Environment Canada warns. People in and around the city are encouraged to consider postponing non-essential travel until conditions improve.

In a post to X early Sunday morning, Ontario Provincial Police warned drivers to slow down, saying officers were "responding to various crashes" in light of the weather.

At its peak Sunday, the storm could bring three to five centimetres per hour, Environment Canada says.

Parts of the Niagara Peninsula may also see a period of freezing rain Sunday morning. Storm warnings are also in effect for other parts of Ontario and Quebec.

That's on top of the nearly 20 centimetres of snow that fell overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning, Toronto city officials said Friday. The storm this week also brought more than 30 centimetres of snow to Mississauga overnight Wednesday, the City of Mississauga said in a news release. That's the most snowfall Mississauga has seen in nearly two years, it said.

The City of Toronto is keeping its significant weather event and "major snowstorm condition" declarations in effect over the weekend and possibly longer, depending on how much snow the city ultimately gets, Barbara Gray, the city's general manager of transportation services, said at a news conference Friday, ahead of the storm. 

Below-zero temperatures next week means the snow might stick around for a while, Gray said.

"Much of the snow that's there will only move if we move it, so it's going to take some time."

Crews at Pearson International Airport were clearing runways overnight Saturday, the airport said in a post on X, but the airport's website showed several flights in and out of Pearson were delayed or cancelled Sunday morning. 

The airport had received about 12 centimetres of snow as of 8 a.m. Sunday, the airport said on X, bringing the total accumulation for the week to just over 50 centimetres. That's more snow than the airport got in November, December and January combined, according to the post.

The Toronto Transit Commission has extra staff and maintenance vehicles deployed throughout the city this weekend to spread salt, clear snow and keep lines moving through the snow, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter. Service has been stopped at 56 TTC stops due to the storm.

Provincial transit agency Metrolinx has adjusted its schedules this weekend. The changes will be in effect from Saturday to Monday, it said in an email.