Arabnews24.ca:Monday 17 January 2022 06:12 AM: Students in Ontario are expected back in classrooms this morning after a period of remote learning — but after a blast of winter weather, some will be learning remotely for at least another day.
Environment Canada published weather alerts for a broad swath of southern Ontario, from snowfall warnings for the Barrie area to winter storm warnings for Hamilton and Ottawa.
In Toronto, Environment Canada posted a winter storm warning, with a total snowfall of between 25 and 35 centimetres expected.
"Snow, at times heavy, with peak snowfall rates of four to six cm per hour possible this morning, which will significantly reduce visibilities," an alert posted early Monday morning said.
In Toronto, city officials on Sunday urged people to "expect hazardous conditions and poor visibility" and plan accordingly.
The city of Hamilton is also under a winter storm warning, prompting Environment Canada to urge people in the Toronto and Hamilton areas to consider postponing non-essential travel until conditions improve
"Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become difficult to navigate due to accumulating snow," the warnings say.
The Hamilton public school board announced early Monday that there would be no in-person or remote learning.
In the Hamilton Catholic board, in-school classes were called off, but some remote learning continued.
"Transportation is cancelled and HWCDSB schools are closed for in-person learning today, Monday, January 17th due to inclement weather," the Catholic board in Hamilton said in a tweet. "The elementary virtual school remains open. In-person students can expect to have some asynchronous work posted by 10am."
Snowfall warnings were in effect for parts of Waterloo-Wellington, while winter storm warnings were in effect for parts of York-Durham, according to Environment Canada, including:
- Pickering and Oshawa in Durham Region.
- Uxbridge and Beaverton in Durham Region.
- Vaughan.in York Region.
Both the https://twitter.com/YRDSB/status/1483019943599910913?cxt=HHwWgsC90YCy35QpAAAA and the Catholic boards in the York Region announced that schools were closed.
In the Halton-Peel area, Environment Canada said early Monday that a snowfall warning is still in effect for the Caledon area.
School boards across most of the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton have said they will announce whether classrooms will be open around 6 a.m. ET.
Both the public and the Catholic school boards in Halton announced early Monday that it was a snow day.
In Ottawa, Environment Canada forecasted a total snowfall of between 25 and 40 centimetres, with as much as 50 centimetres in some areas.
"Snow, at times heavy, with peak snowfall rates of four to seven cm per hour possible Monday morning, which could significantly reduce visibilities," the alert published Sunday night for the Ottawa area said.
In Ottawa, both the Ottawa Catholic School Board and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board will turn to remote learning on Monday.
The snowfall in southern Ontario added a wrinkle to the province's already contentious school reopening plan.
The province shifted to online learning after the winter break, so schools not shuttered by snow will be reopening for the first time in nearly a month.
The Ontario Provincial Police Highway Safety Division reminded drivers to make sure to clean cars completely if they do need to hit the road.
