Record-breaking early season snowfall leads to hundreds of crashes in Toronto area

TORONTO – Sunday’s snowfall in Toronto brought the largest amount of early-season accumulation in more than five decades, an Environment Canada meteorologist said on Monday. 

Geoff Coulson said a total of 9.8 centimetres of snow was reported at Pearson International Airport, a significant and rare snowfall amount for this time of year. 

“That’s the most snow that’s fallen on Nov. 9 at that site ever. The previous record was 1.5 centimetres (that) fell back in 1971,” he said.

“If we look further into the record books, the only snowier date earlier in the month was Nov. 2, 1966, where the Pearson airport reported 10.2 centimetres of snow.”

He said 7.1 centimetres of snow fell on Oct. 21, 1969, and another 5.3 centimetres the next day. 

“It was a two-day event back then that gave a notable snowfall,” he said. “There’s been other events that they may have had some snow, but not necessarily the amounts that we’re talking about.”

The snow was caused by a low pressure system that blanketed much of southern Ontario, with 16 centimetres reported in Hamilton and 11.7 centimetres in Ottawa as of Monday morning.

Kiara Pinnock, who lives in the Greater Toronto Area, said seeing snow-covered roofs and white streets was a welcome surprise on Sunday.

But it did feel “a little bit out of the blue” to see the accumulation while the trees are still shedding their fall leaves, she said.

“I know a lot of people hate the winter. Just try to embrace her. She can be nice. She’s pretty,” Pinnock said Monday.

“Have fun by doing some, like, snow-related activities.”

For Maicol Pavan and Francesco Granata, who landed in Toronto on a working visa just two days before the storm, the snow came as a total surprise.

Pavan said back home in Italy, snow in this amount is a rare sight.

“I thought it’s early to see snow here in Toronto in November, but that’s OK. I’m not scared about it,” Granata said.

Hamilton resident Kwafo Yawson said the snow added an extra half hour to his commute into the city on Monday.

“There was plenty of traffic,” he said.

The snow led to tricky driving conditions, with Ontario Provincial Police reporting hundreds of collisions on Greater Toronto Area roads. 

OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said officers responded to about 220 crashes by Monday morning, and police received reports of another 120 vehicles stuck in the snow. 

Sebastian Pires, another Toronto resident, said he was hoping to push off having to install winter tires until later in the month.

But after driving on Sunday, he got home and put them on right away.

He said although there were warnings ahead of time about the snow, he noticed a delay in snow plows hitting the streets and roads in his area getting salted.

“It was a little bit of annoying to deal with firsthand, but that’s typically how it is the first snowfall every year,” Pires said.

Pires said he feels it’s still too soon to have had to dig into his closet for a warm coat, hat and gloves.

Environment Canada said a high of -1 C and more flurries were forecasted in Toronto on Monday, with a low of -2 with the wind chill near -7 Monday night.

The agency has issued snow squall warnings for the south end of Georgian Bay, including Owen Sound, the Blue Mountains, Simcoe County, southern Huron County, Middlesex County and Lambton County.

“The worst of that activity will be ending by midday on Tuesday, but it is quite possible that some locations in the snow belt in these affected areas could receive an additional 15 to 30 centimetres of snow,” Coulson said.

Toronto and much of southern Ontario will see a return to more seasonal temperatures by the middle of the week, Coulson said.

“A normal high for this time of year is 8 degrees, looking at temperatures getting back to 6 to 7 degrees by midweek for those daytime highs,” he said.

“Any chance of precipitation from Wednesday into Friday will be more in the form of shower activity.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2025.