Toronto was on its way Sunday to having its snowiest day on record. For a city used to harsh winters, that’s saying a lot.
By 10 p.m., Toronto Pearson International Airport had received about 18 inches (46 centimeters) of snow on Sunday, the airport said. Snow was still falling. The most snow Toronto has received in a single day was the 19 inches that fell on Dec. 11, 1944, the Toronto Star newspaper reported.
Temperatures at the airport dipped to as low as 9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 13 Celsius) in Toronto, and with gusts reaching nearly 30 miles per hour, the wind chill reached as low as minus 9 Fahrenheit (minus 23 Celsius), according to the Canadian government.
By Sunday evening, the city had declared a “major snowstorm condition.” Mayor Olivia Chow said on social media that the peak of the heavy snowfall would end around 11 p.m., and that the city had over 600 snowplows on its roads and sidewalks.
The airport said that around 65 percent of all departures and arrivals had been canceled from Saturday evening through Sunday. It was unclear how many were canceled because of bad weather.
All Toronto Public Library branches were closed on Sunday, as were some restaurants across the city.
Hundreds of Toronto schools will be closed on Monday. The Toronto District School Board said that classes and after school programs would be canceled. The Toronto Catholic District School Board said high school exams scheduled for Monday would be rescheduled.
Jin Yu Young is a reporter and researcher for The Times, based in Seoul, covering South Korea and international breaking news.
The post Winter Storm Pummels Toronto With Near-Record Snowfall appeared first on New York Times.
