Ice Day (Bus Cancellation) Outlook for Wednesday, March 23, 2022
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NOTE: You can click on the map to open a zoomable image which might be easier to read due to the small labels. If you prefer our old city label format, we have included that further down this article.
A risk of prolonged freezing rain starting Wednesday morning will likely result in many school bus cancellations mainly throughout the Dundalk Highlands and into Central Ontario. Environment Canada has a Freezing Rain Warning in effect for the higher elevations northwest of the GTA including Kitchener, Guelph and Orangeville warning of ‘significant freezing rain’ which will almost certainly lead to the school boards in those regions to cancel school buses and perhaps even close schools. As a result, we have given that area a 75-90% chance of an ‘ice day’ for Wednesday. The only exception is the London and Hamilton region which are more urban and it’s questionable if the severity of this event will merit cancellations in those regions.
Outside of this region, Environment Canada does have a Special Weather Statement in effect for much of Central Ontario mentioning the risk of freezing rain. How this is interpreted will depend on each board so we have given some regions a 50% chance indicating that it could go either way. While the boards that tend to be less sensitive to weather have a 25% chance of seeing cancellations. Those in the Parry Sound/North Bay region have a 75% chance mainly because that school board tends to cancel whenever there is wintery weather in the forecast during the school day.
We don’t expect the cancellations to extend into the urban school board around the GTA as this freezing rain event will be mainly contained to the higher elevations. However, it can’t be ruled out depending on the exact temperature in the morning so we’ve still given them a 10-25% chance of seeing an ice day.
If there are any cancellations tomorrow morning, you can be sure we’ll be up bright and early beginning at 6 AM with our bus cancellations live blog to keep you updated.
FORECAST MAP WITH CITY LABELS
Disclaimer: Instant Weather has zero authority when it comes to bus and school closures. It is completely up to the school boards, bus companies, and local authorities as well as being up to parents to decide what is best for their children. This is simply our best guess based on our forecast. Also note that due to the current pandemic, some school boards have changed their policies on school bus cancellations. Some will continue the school day in a virtual format should there be school bus cancellations - check with your local board for more details.
