A swiftly moving, blinding snow squall moved across parts of frigid Toronto this morning, causing several multi-vehicle pileups, including one involving upwards of 100 cars. The video of the event shows a towering wall of snow, similar to a haboob, which is a type of dust storm that was first identified in the Middle East but also occurs in the Southwest U.S.
Check out this incredible photo of the snow squall just north of Toronto taken from the CTV Toronto chopper pic.twitter.com/z37h7mJ5Go
— CTV Toronto (@CTVToronto) February 27, 2014
This captures the giant #snowboob squal in Toronto (via CP24) https://t.co/dOcvbA8P0Z
— Brian Ries (@moneyries) February 27, 2014
The squall caused short-lived whiteout conditions along with slick roadways, the perfect ingredients for trouble on the highways. The snow squall, which is the winter equivalent of a summer downpour, did not produce a hefty amount of snow, but was enough to coat the ground up to an inch or two in spots.
Helicopter imagery from local TV news channels show a heap of cars piled-up across four lanes of Toronto’s Highway 400.
Here's the front of the pileup on Highway 400, as seen from our chopper. 96 vehicles involved. pic.twitter.com/XRB79ZvQQf
— Chris Kitching (@chriskitching) February 27, 2014
#400 crash. 96 cars. First pics on scene @CTVToronto pic.twitter.com/JIUPFQcNER
— austin delaney (@AustinCTV) February 27, 2014
The highway, which connects downtown Toronto with the cities of Barrie and Sudbury to the north, was quickly closed down to clear the vehicles off of the road. There are reports of minor injuries but luckily, nothing serious.
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