Region, townships declare ‘significant weather event’ due to snowstorm

For the first time ever, the Region of Waterloo has declared a “significant weather event” as a major storm makes its way to the area bringing rapidly accumulating snow.

This declaration helps the region prepare additional resources to tackle the storm and bring awareness to the public. According to the press release, the event can be declared if there is more than 20 cm of snow within 24 hours, ice accumulation of 20 mm or winds greater than 60 km/h.

This is different from a snow event which can be declared when accumulation is more than 8 cm, it notes.

The cities of Cambridge and Waterloo followed suit with each declaring the events. Cambridge’s comes into effect at 7:00 p.m. and Kitchener’s at 9:00 p.m.

This forces any vehicles parked on city streets to be removed for snow clearing. Any parking exemptions are also cancelled during this time.

The Township of Woolwich declared a “significant weather event” amid the warnings from Environment Canada on Wednesday. This also means the township will have a parking ban in effect which is set to start at 11:59 p.m. tonight.

“The declaration is to notify the public that due to the current or forecasted conditions, caution is to be observed when travelling on Township roads and that it may take longer than usual to bring the condition of the roads back to a state of repair,” a press release from the town reads.

The parking ban will remain in effect for 24 hours unless it is extended or cancelled. Vehicles parked on-street during the event could be ticketed and/or towed. People are also being asked to not push snow from their driveways onto the road or sidewalks.

The Township of North Dumfries also issued a significant weather event, asking people to not park on local roads Wednesday into Thursday.

The area could see upwards of 25 centimetres of snow with peak accumulation rates of 4 cm/h. There is also a possibility of ice pellets and freezing rain as temperatures rise over the event.

The parking ban is in effect from 3:00 p.m. today until 3:00 p.m. on Thursday.

The Township of Wilmot also declared a significant weather event that is set to come into effect at 3:00 p.m. in response to the forecasted conditions. This prompted a parking ban that will start at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday.

“Declaring the end of the event does not mean roads and sidewalks are in good usable condition,” Wilmot’s press release reads. “It only means that the Township feels that the weather has subsided enough that regular maintenance timelines can be met.”

The Township of Wellesley, the last in the area, declared tonight’s weather significant forcing a parking ban to start at 11:59 p.m. The restrictions will be in place for 24 hours and tickets for parking on the street will be doubled.