Two weeks following the severe ice storm, this area was hit with another winter blast, including heavy snowfalls and frigid temperatures that created “life threatening conditions” across the region.
A major storm struck southwestern Ontario this week, wreaking havoc with traffic and closing roads, schools and other facilities throughout the county.
Snowfalls moved into the area on Jan. 5, turning heavy overnight on Sunday. By Monday morning, Environment Canada had issued a blizzard warning for the area.
Wellington County officials issued a press release on Monday, warning of snowfalls of 15 to 30cm, as well as snow squalls and a temperature drop into Tuesday.
“A combination of the dangerous snow squalls with extreme wind chills of minus 35 to minus 40 will produce frequent blizzard conditions this afternoon and tonight,” the county stated in the release.
“Frequent to widespread very low to nil visibilities with near whiteout conditions are expected especially in exposed areas during the snow squalls.”
Environment Canada warnings indicated a combination of a fresh heavy snowfall with intense snow squalls and bitter wind chills posed, “a life-threatening risk for anyone outside for any duration, or stranded in vehicles if roads become snow-blocked.”
The warnings from the county and Environment Canada came to fruition by Tuesday morning, as the temperature dropped to lows not seen in the area in decades, reaching -35C with the wind chill in many areas.
Making matters worse was the blowing snow, which resulted in near-zero visibility and drifts upwards of four feet high in some areas.
The severe conditions resulted in the closure of many roads on Tuesday, including Highway 6 from Fergus to Mount Forest, Highway 9 north of Harriston and Wellington Road 7 between Parker and Teviotdale, among others.
Travellers were advised to ensure they had an adequate car emergency kit and ample fuel if travelling any distance.
The blizzard conditions eased somewhat on Tuesday, but the wind and frigid temperatures continued into Wednesday.
Buses were cancelled throughout the area on Monday, and as the storm worsened, the Upper Grand District School Board took the rare step of closing all schools and board offices on Tuesday, in addition to cancelling buses.
By Wednesday, buses in Guelph and southern Wellington were running, but those in Centre Wellington and northern Wellington were not. Most schools had reopened by Jan. 8, with the exception of those that depend heavily on buses, including Eramosa, Centre Peel, Kenilworth and Maryborough.
The weather also forced the closure of several facilities throughout the county on Tuesday, including the Harriston waste transfer facility, the Harriston branch of the Wellington County library (which had just reopened after being closed since Dec. 13 due to flooding caused by a burst sprinkler pipe) and the Palmerston Child Care and Learning Centre.
Garbage and recycling collection in Minto and Mapleton was postponed until Jan. 11.
At 2pm on Tuesday, the Town of Minto closed the municipality’s administration centre on Highway 9 and pulled its plows off the roads. Mapleton Township also pulled its plows from the road at 4:30pm on Tuesday due to “poor visibility.”
Linda Dickson, the county’s community emergency management coordinator, said the county was “keeping an eye on any hydro outages,” similar to outages that occurred following the Dec. 22 ice storm that saw some residents without power for up to five days.
OPP media relations officer Cheri Rockefeller issued a statement from police warning motorists about potential dangers with freezing temperatures and blowing snow.
Police urged residents and motorists to be “mindful of live wires, fallen trees or limbs that are imminent of falling.”
The release also added, “Watch out for snow removal vehicles on roads and sidewalks. Significant snowfalls commonly cause an increase in automobile collisions, power outages and medical emergencies.”
The OPP also urged residents to stay home if possible.
By Wednesday conditions seemed to improve and the temperature had risen, though it was expected to remain as cold as -20C (with the wind chill) at least into Thursday.
