[URBAN NOTE] Dread winter, ten years ago

[rfmcdonald]

CTV Toronto reminds us that, ten years ago today, Toronto was beseiged. By what? By winter.

January 1999 was a brutal weather period for Toronto, with a 40-centimetre dump of snow starting things off on the second and third days of the year.

Ten days later, another snow system promised to bring another 15 to 25 centimetres of snow, with more to come. Winds gusting to 40 kilometres per hour made the -10C temperatures feel like -40C.

And so Mel Lastman, then the city's mayor, made a decision on Jan. 13, 1999 that still causes smirks from Victoria to St. John's -- he called in the army.

"I remember as never seeing so much snow come down in my life at one time," he told ctvtoronto.ca.

"I remember going out with my driver and taking a look at the old city of Toronto and driving south of Queen (Street) ... and seeing narrow streets, and cars parked on both sides of the streets, and ruts in the centre -- and wondering how the hell an ambulance would ever get down there.

"And I remember looking out my window at City Hall and not seeing any cars or anything driving along Queen Street.

"I said to myself, 'Myself, what the hell am I going to do now?'" he said.

"I called the head of the army and said 'what have you got ... because this city could be in a lot of trouble'," Lastman said.

[. . .]

Over 15 days, almost an entire season's worth of snow had fallen -- up to 118 centimetres. A typical January in Toronto at that time would see about 35 cm for the month, with 124 cm for an entire winter.

It would be described as the snowiest two-week period for the city since 1871.

There were more than 5,000 kilometres of roads to clear. GO Transit trains were shut down for two days, and the TTC was barely functioning, with fistfights breaking out between passengers frustrated by delays.

[. . .]

While people remember the army, don't forget the volunteers from Prince Edward Island who brought out snow removal equipment to help remove the massive piles of snow from roadways.

Other crews from London, Bracebridge, Montreal and Ottawa also helped out.

The snow emergency was declared over at 3 p.m. on Jan. 18, 1999, although the cleanup would continue until month's end.