Winter storm to bring ‘rapidly accumulating snow’
Posted Feb 12, 2025 07:13:06 AM.
Last Updated Feb 12, 2025 04:35:47 PM.
Batten down the hatches, a winter storm is on the way to Waterloo Region bringing heavy snow and freezing rain.
A snowfall warning is in effect as severe weather is set to begin on Wednesday afternoon and continue into Thursday morning.
Between 15 and 25 centimetres of snow could fall between 3 p.m. on Wednesday and 8 a.m. on Thursday, and as temperatures warm to close to the freezing point over that period, some freezing rain could mix in with that snow.
This is something crews ready to plow and salt the roads have been preparing for since Tuesday, Scott Berry, manager of maintenance of roads and traffic for the City of Kitchener, said.
“Rapidly accumulating snow,” said 570’s Meteorologist Jill Taylor. “After 3 or 4 p.m., the snowfall rates could be 2 to as much as 4 cm per hour. So, that snow is really going to pile up.”
Areas further north of Waterloo Region are seeing significantly higher estimated snow totals of 20 to 40 cm. The weather agency is calling the system “highly impactful” and warns the strong low-pressure system is going to dump a lot of snow across Ontario.
Wednesday’s high in the region is -6 C, but temperatures will rise into the evening to -2 C.
50 vehicles to be deployed
Early notices of the storm that came from Environment Canada earlier this week allowed teams to prepare for the snow event days in advance.
Berry told CityNews Kitchener in an interview that the municipality will deploy 50 vehicles—20 salter and 30 plows—to tackle the rapidly falling snow.
“We are staffed up to handle an event like this,” he said. “The equipment we use it’s an adequate size that we can maintain the roads with eight centimetres or 28 centimetres.”
When asked what residents can do to help the teams clear the snow, Berry said removing their vehicles from the road helps a lot.
“Parked cars are probably the single largest obstacle we have,” he noted. “The size of the equipment that I mentioned earlier also needs much of that road width just to safely travel down it.”
Berry is also asking people to steer clear of plows on city roads. Often the plow driver needs to back up to clean corners, which puts vehicles behind them at risk if they are following too closely.
“They’ve got a hard job to do, and they’re up through all hours of the night. Give them some space,” Berry said. “Make sure you can see those mirrors so that they can see you.”
Plows are not the only crews preparing for the event, Kelly McMath with Enova Power told CityNews Kitchener, teams are ready to respond to any outages across the region.
“We’re always prepared for the possibility of power outages, but generally for us, snow is less of a concern,” she said. “The biggest weather concerns for us are strong winds and freezing rain or ice build-up on tree limbs and vehicles that could slide into power poles.”
She recommends people keep their phones charged, have a 72-hour emergency kit and flashlights ready in case the power does go out.
“If we do see storm-related power outages, we are prepared to work around the clock until we can get everyone back,” McMath said.
Bus, school cancellations coming in
Heavy snowfall and those icy surfaces could increases the chances of school bus cancellations for the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) and Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB).
So far this school year, there have been a number of school bus cancellations at the WCDSB and WRDSB for the township routes.
While those township-specific cancellations haven’t happened in a few years, Benoit Bourgault, general manager of Student Transportation Services, noted that they used to be a common occurrence.
“Ten years plus ago, it was a very common occurrence,” said Bourgault. “Weather patterns are changing with climate change. We have to adjust accordingly.”
While those cancellations may not always be popular, Bourgault explains that they can be important for student safety.
“At the end of the day, we have to make a decision based on the conditions,” said Bourgault. “The worst thing that can happen if we make the wrong decision is students have missed a day of school. If we make a wrong decision on the other side then it could be very tragic.”
