officedweller
March 5th, 2007, 11:10 PM
Ice fears keep Gardiner shut
TheStar.com - News - Ice fears keep Gardiner shut
March 05, 2007
Linda Nguyen
Curtis Rush
Staff Reporters
The Gardiner Expressway is expected to remain closed between Yonge St. and Spadina Ave. streets during the afternoon rush hour because of worries about ice falling from the CN Tower.
Police closed the Expressway in both directions during this morning's rush hour after baseball-sized chunks of ice began falling. With winds expected to pick up later today, officials worried about injury and damage to passing cars.
The roadway will stay closed as long as falling ice poses a danger to traffic, said city transportation spokesperson Gary Welsh.
King St. was also shut downtown from Yonge St. to Bay St. due to ice falling from office buildings, and all TTC vehicles have been re-routed around the area, police said.
The ice collected on buildings during last Thursday’s snow and ice storm, which knocked out power to thousands of homes in the city.
Experts say this is the first time since 1976 — when the CN Tower was finished — that the structure has seen such an ice buildup.
The cause was a rare confluence of weather factors beginning with the March 1 storm. The accumulations of wet snow and freezing rain (about 6 centimetres of snow and another 13 millimetres of rain) got the ball rolling.
The quick change in temperature then caused a "flash freeze" and the winds, gusting up to 70 km/h, spread the moisture, creating a larger mass of ice, according to David Phillips, Environment Canada's senior climatologist.
A flash freeze happens when a cold front moves in quickly after wet snow or rain and in a matter of two hours or so causes the snow and rain to freeze.
The ice formations are larger under these conditions because the rapid freeze traps all the moisture. Normally, in a longer freeze, some moisture is allowed to evaporate or escape, and the freeze-over doesn't produce such larger formations of ice.
Swirling winds then tore chunks of ice off high buildings.
One massive piece of ice hanging from the CN Tower has police particularly concerned, Welsh said.
"I’ve heard it is very big – around 50 metres – and there’s concern that it can come down on the Gardiner,” he said.
All lanes and on-ramps of the Gardiner remain closed in both directions, forcing motorists to find alternate travel routes. Many drivers used Lakeshore Ave., and the increased volume brought traffic there to a virtual standstill between Jarvis and Parliament streets.
The area around the CN Tower and Rogers Centre has also been closed to all vehicles and pedestrians, Welsh said.
Environment Canada has issued a wind and wind-chill warning for today, with wind speeds expected to gust up to 90 km/hr and a wind chill of –35C.
TheStar.com - News - Ice fears keep Gardiner shut
March 05, 2007
Linda Nguyen
Curtis Rush
Staff Reporters
The Gardiner Expressway is expected to remain closed between Yonge St. and Spadina Ave. streets during the afternoon rush hour because of worries about ice falling from the CN Tower.
Police closed the Expressway in both directions during this morning's rush hour after baseball-sized chunks of ice began falling. With winds expected to pick up later today, officials worried about injury and damage to passing cars.
The roadway will stay closed as long as falling ice poses a danger to traffic, said city transportation spokesperson Gary Welsh.
King St. was also shut downtown from Yonge St. to Bay St. due to ice falling from office buildings, and all TTC vehicles have been re-routed around the area, police said.
The ice collected on buildings during last Thursday’s snow and ice storm, which knocked out power to thousands of homes in the city.
Experts say this is the first time since 1976 — when the CN Tower was finished — that the structure has seen such an ice buildup.
The cause was a rare confluence of weather factors beginning with the March 1 storm. The accumulations of wet snow and freezing rain (about 6 centimetres of snow and another 13 millimetres of rain) got the ball rolling.
The quick change in temperature then caused a "flash freeze" and the winds, gusting up to 70 km/h, spread the moisture, creating a larger mass of ice, according to David Phillips, Environment Canada's senior climatologist.
A flash freeze happens when a cold front moves in quickly after wet snow or rain and in a matter of two hours or so causes the snow and rain to freeze.
The ice formations are larger under these conditions because the rapid freeze traps all the moisture. Normally, in a longer freeze, some moisture is allowed to evaporate or escape, and the freeze-over doesn't produce such larger formations of ice.
Swirling winds then tore chunks of ice off high buildings.
One massive piece of ice hanging from the CN Tower has police particularly concerned, Welsh said.
"I’ve heard it is very big – around 50 metres – and there’s concern that it can come down on the Gardiner,” he said.
All lanes and on-ramps of the Gardiner remain closed in both directions, forcing motorists to find alternate travel routes. Many drivers used Lakeshore Ave., and the increased volume brought traffic there to a virtual standstill between Jarvis and Parliament streets.
The area around the CN Tower and Rogers Centre has also been closed to all vehicles and pedestrians, Welsh said.
Environment Canada has issued a wind and wind-chill warning for today, with wind speeds expected to gust up to 90 km/hr and a wind chill of –35C.