Blizzard warning shuts down large parts of midwestern Ontario

It was a day to stay home - if you could - across much of midwestern Ontario due to weather.

“Pretty darn nasty. I tell everybody, stay at home. Be safe. Stay at home,” said Pat Dunn.

All schools were closed across Bruce, Grey, Huron and Perth Counties due to blizzard like conditions across the region. Several roads were closed, events were cancelled, even snowplows were pulled off the roads near Kincardine due to the onslaught of snow.

“You just can't see anything. It's awful,” said Sidney Meyers, who travelled from Hanover to Wingham Thursday morning.

As much as 60 centimetres of snow is expected to fall through Friday evening for the worst hit parts of the region. That’s on top of as much as 100 centimetres, which fell last week.

“We're back almost to the old-fashioned style of winter,” said Dunn.

“I know it's a lot of shock for a lot of people. It's the nice thing about technology. We can do an awful lot of things from the truck. You make phone calls, talk to people. A lot of people are home because they're not out and about. We do have to do the odd site visit, but, yeah, you just deal with it and stay in one spot as long as you can. Do your best.”

Dunn was limiting his travel as much as he could Thursday, working for a fuel company.

Emergency services were warning motorists to travel only if it was absolutely necessary, and to be prepared if they did venture out with a full tank of gas, a charged cell phone, and the winter necessities to survive potentially hours stuck in a ditch.

Blizzard-like conditions in Wingham, Ont. seen on Dec. 12, 2024. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

“Ask yourself, could we sit here for a few hours and be comfortable if we had to? We just don't want to see people heading out unprepared,” said Const. Craig Soldan with Huron County OPP.

“They don't have any warm clothing. They don't have a blanket; they don't have a charged cell phone or a cell cord even to charge their phone in the car. You don't want to be in that situation.”

Blizzard-like conditions in Wingham, Ont. seen on Dec. 12, 2024. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

The blizzard-like conditions are expected to subside sometime on Friday, but until then, midwestern Ontario is pretty much closed.

“Yeah, it's pretty rough. Anybody who's going out anywhere outside of town, I don't think I'd be able to work around that. I'd be going stir crazy saying, being like, I'm going to stay at home,” said Meyers.

“It's been a wild winter so far. I’m waiting for spring,” said another driver, filling up their gas tank in Wingham.