It’s coming!
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has issued a winter storm warning for Barrie and area.
The first sure sign was salt seen down the centre line of city streets this morning, before the weather even began to turn into snowfall as well as expected ice pellets and freezing rain.
“That’s us sort of getting ready for the big storm. What that will do is it gives us a head start,” said Dave Friary, the city’s director of operations. “It stops the snow and ice from adhering to the pavement.
"When the precipitation comes down, it will obviously start to dissolve and melt the salt," he added.
The salt is in the middle of the street because of the natural crown in the road, Friary said, as part of street design, so it runs into the lanes of traffic.
Starting at 4 a.m., Wednesday, city crews were out salting Barrie streets.
“We had all hands on deck to get that done,” Friary said.
The winds are also expected to pick up, which will result in blowing snow.
“This is one of those storms that people are going to need to bring their patience for,” Friary said. “What’s likely to happen is the snow will start later this afternoon, get heavy around the dinner hour and into the night and into tomorrow morning.”
Depending on the amount of snow, it usually takes city crews 10 hours to get through all of their routes. So if the snow stops Thursday around 6 or 7 a.m., there’s a good chance, by the time crews get everything cleaned up, it will be late into the afternoon.
“If you need to go grab some chips and Cheesies, grab them tonight,” Friary said.
Barrie city police had a similar message, reminding the community to be prepared for the possibility of freezing rain, ice pellets and heavy snow. Those who don’t need to be on the road should consider staying home or getting what they need before the storm arrives, police said.
“If this storm hits as it is expected, it will impact people’s travel plans (on Thursday) morning and it will take road crews some time to clear our streets and sidewalks,” said Barrie police communications co-ordinator Peter Leon.
“A little patience will be required, so please give them (city crews) a chance to do their jobs and remember, if you need to go out do so knowing that you will be able to return home safely and not become stranded,” he added.
While the forecast for today reads a 60 per cent chance of light snow with winds gusting to 40 kilometres an hour, the weather gets interesting tonight and into Thursday.
Tonight the forecast is for snow, at times heavy, or ice pellets, with a risk of freezing rain overnight. The accumulation of snow and ice pellets could amount to 10 to 20 centimetres.
Winds could again gust to 40 km/h tonight, but the low of minus-8 Celsius will feel like minus-15 C with the wind chill.
ECCC’s Thursday forecast is for periods of light snow or ice pellets, mixed with freezing drizzle. The minus-15 C wind chill tomorrow morning will rise to minus-7 C in the afternoon.
And Thursday might not be the end of it.
“The winds are switching on Friday, so we may not be out of it,” Friary said. “We’re looking at wind gusts up to 30 again, winds out of the northwest with much colder temperatures around minus-14 C.
“When that happens that’s when we get the big squalls,” he added. “So into Friday we could be into it a bit more.”
