SNOW LEADS TO 20 ACCIDENTS AND POWER OUTAGES EARLY TODAY

MUSKOKA — Welcome back to winter.

Police in south Muskoka have responded to 20 motor vehicle collisions between Monday and early Tuesday morning.

They say most of them were preventable had drivers been responding to the changing weather conditions with caution.

Fortunately no one was injured.

Schools in Gravenhurst and Bracebridge were also affected.

Trillium Lakelands District School board sent out a notice this morning abot power outages in both towns.

They said if students haven’t gone to school, families are urged to “please keep them home.”

Students who are already on the buses will be greeted at school and further messaging will be sent about class openings, they emailed.

Snow and ice have popped up a couple of times across Muskoka this past week.

Temperatures dipped to freezing levels last night.

And they are expected to be 5 or 6 degrees below zero overnight the next few days and slightly warmer at the end of the week as daytime temperatures are also back to 6 degrees.

Snow is a little early for this time of year and you won’t likely see a lot of it for much longer if past falls haven’t seen much accumulation for a month yet.

Officers remind drivers that as the weather worsens and icy conditions become a factor to consider the following:

Slow down and be prepared to respond changing conditions

Turn ON your vehicles lighting system so that other drivers will be able to see you

Plan ahead and give yourself extra time for your drive

Allow extra space between you and the vehicles around you

Exercise caution while adjusting to changing weather and road conditions, they add.

Frost on the pumpkin? No way today. It was snow. You know Halloween is over and it’s time to put away the pumpkin when it’s covered in white. Now that’s scary.
They’re back! At least for today, as residents in Gravenhurst woke up to snow-covered vehicles in their drives and snowplows passing their doorsteps of the sleet and accumulating slush.
Winter? Already! Forget it. The walk to work was unwelcomed this morning by some. Fortunately temperatures are supposed to rise at the end of the week – but not before possibly more of the same for a day or so.