near-crippling

Apparently we can expect 30-40 cm of snow over the next 24 hours.  I’m watching the weather channel which has a Winter Storm Warning, in red, on the screen.  It describes the upcoming weather as being “near-crippling”.  I figured ”hey, it’s the weather channel – they get excited about the possibility of bad weather and use sensationalistic phrasing to describe their hope that they have something big to report on for a couple of days”.

But then I looked at Environment Canada’s website and saw that the language originated there:

City of Toronto
7:03 PM EST Saturday 15 December 2007
Winter storm warning for
City of Toronto continued

A near-crippling snow storm with heavy snow and blowing snow as well as some ice pellets tonight and Sunday.

This is a warning that dangerous winter weather conditions are imminent or occurring in these regions. Monitor weather conditions..Listen for updated statements.

A massive winter storm is about to strike much of southern and eastern Ontario with near record snowfall amounts. Latest analyses indicates that the developing low pressure system is moving across western Kentucky preceeded by a burgeoning area of moderate snow with some freezing precipitation extending north to Lake Erie.

The low will move northeast towards the lower Great Lakes and intensify rapidly as it reaches Ohio Sunday morning then track across New York state into New England Sunday night. This storm track will place much of southern and eastern Ontario directly under the brunt of heavy snow. A few claps of thunder along with bursts of very heavy snow are also likely.

The brunt of the main snow event will begin this evening in the southwest and rapidly envelop all regions east to Ottawa in the overnight hours. Copious amounts of snow as well as strong winds causing blowing snow are expected. Freezing rain is also possible near Lake Erie.

Widespread snowfall accumulations of 20 to 30 cm are expected in most areas tonight and Sunday. Some local amounts of 40 cm or more are quite likely in a few areas by Sunday night..Especially from the west end of Lake Ontario and eastwards into far eastern Ontario.

Significant blowing snow is expected to accompany the heavy snow due to strong northeast winds gusting to 60 km/h whipping up the freshly fallen snow and causing whiteout conditions. In addition freezing rain is possible especially near Lake Erie for a few hours overnight and Sunday morning as milder air pays a brief visit aloft. Ice pellets are also quite possible generally along and south of a line from Grand Bend to near Toronto and east to Cornwall.

The public should be prepared to change plans accordingly to avoid unnecessary travel during this storm. This massive snow storm has the potential to cause near-paralyzing conditions as road travel on any unplowed streets may become next to impossible on Sunday. All motorists who must travel are urgently advised to use extreme caution and plan for much extra time to reach their destination.

There is a high degree of certainty with this storm as the concensus of weather model data is virtually unanimously forecasting this event.

Unfortunately, tomorrow we’re supposed to be going to Romy’s for dinner – which has been planned a year in advance.  She called this evening wondering if we wanted to cancel. S, Lil Sis and I all agree that we’ll try to get there, I just hope the roads co-operate.

Update:  Well, they finally got a forecast right.  Sunday brought with it lots of snow.  Environment Canada said that nearby Riverdale area got 30 cm of snow.  

S and I dug a car width along the laneway Sunday afternoon.  I don’t mind shovelling behind the houses, but it pisses me off that we end up being the only ones to shovel the part of the laneway that’s shared with other drivers.  We braved the traffic and spent the night at Romy’s after having a very delicious dinner.