Toronto under winter storm warning this weekend

If you live in or around Toronto, you may want to keep that shovel nearby.

After a wallop of winter weather this week, the city could see another 25 to 35 centimetres of snow this weekend, Environment Canada says. The agency issued a winter storm warning Saturday morning, with snow beginning in the afternoon and ending Sunday evening.

At its peak, it could bring three to six centimetres per hour, the federal weather agency says.

Snow is expected to be lighter Saturday, with Environment Canada calling for amounts of up to 10 centimetres by late evening. But conditions are expected to "rapidly deteriorate" Sunday morning, the agency says, as snow accumulates and blowing snow arrives.

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.

Parts of the Niagara Peninsula may also see a period of freezing rain Sunday morning. 

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.

In anticipation of the snowfall, provincial transit agency Metrolinx says it's adjusting it schedules this weekend. The changes will be in effect from Saturday to Monday, it said in an email.

For Lakeshore West customers, GO Trains that start or end in Oakville will not run, but trains will continue to run every 30 minutes between Union Station and Oakville GO. No changes are in effect for customers between Bronte and Niagara Falls. 

For Lakeshore East customers, GO Train service will be on a modified run leaving every 30 minutes between Union Station and the Oshawa GO station. 

For Kitchener Line customers, Metrolinx is adding four more Kitchener trains on Saturday to support customers travelling during winter reading week at post-secondary institutions. 

Metrolinx is operating GO Bus routes on its regular Saturday schedule throughout the long weekend, but customers should prepare for delays due to the winter road conditons, the email says. 

Since Wednesday evening, crews in Toronto have been working around the clock to clear snow from roads, sidewalks and bike lanes, the city said in a news release. 

With more snow on the way, the city 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 sees Saturday and Sunday, said Barbara Gray, the city's general manager of transportation services, at a news conference Friday.