Ontario Schools Are Closing & People Are Being Told Not To Travel As Winter Storm Rages On

Students rejoice! Several Ontario school boards will be shutting down on Monday due to the impact of a significant winter storm, which could bring up to 30 to 50 centimetres of snow.

The severity of the weather is causing Environment Canada to issue blizzard and snowfall warnings for most southern regions due to widespread "reduced visibilities of 400 metres."

"Travel is expected to be very difficult or impossible due to near-zero visibility. Rapidly accumulating snow will make travel difficult. There may be a significant impact on rush hour traffic in urban areas. Prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions," the agency warns.

School boards, including York Region District, York Catholic District, Halton District, Peel Region, Durham Region, Hamilton-Wentworth District, have also shut down in-person learning and school bus transportation.

However, it's worth noting that some, such as the Toronto District School Board, will be switching over to remote learning instead of giving most staff and students the day off.

Many university campuses are also closing temporarily, citing the significant weather event, including Ryerson, University of Toronto Mississauga and McMaster.

"Due to severe weather conditions, the University of Toronto Mississauga is closed on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. All remote classes today will continue as scheduled. All in-person U of T Mississauga classes, tutorials, labs, tests, and other on-campus activities are cancelled," an update reads.

Environment Canada predicts the conditions will persist through Monday evening, with the worst due to taper off by 11:00 a.m. in Toronto.

"Heavy snow with peak snowfall rates of 8 to 10 cm per hour this morning. Blowing snow due to winds gusting up to 60 km/h," the report adds.

Police units, such as OPP East Region, are asking all residents to avoid unnecessary travel.