Garden City Skyway ‘an absolute sheet of ice’ Thursday morning

Garden City Skyway in St. Catharines was an absolute sheet of ice" Thursday morning due to freezing rain, says Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt.

He took to social media shortly after 10:30 a.m. with a video showing a backlog of traffic headed in the Fort Erie-bound lanes, explaining that two tractor-trailers had jackknifed while attempting to travel the span that crosses the Welland Canal.

It's so slippery they can't even get down," said Schmidt, also pointing out salt trucks had been stuck on the bridge for an hour and a half and were unable to do their job to improve conditions.

Schmidt said there had been crashes all over the place" Thursday morning.

He told Niagara Dailies at 11:45 a.m. the skyway had reopened within the previous hour.

Environment Canada meteorologist Steven Flisfeder said there is often confusion over the definitions of freezing rain and ice pellets.

What fell Thursday in Niagara was freezing rain, which is liquid rain that freezes on contact with a surface that is below freezing. Ice pellets are what people hear pinging off windows," which is precipitation that starts as snow in the upper atmosphere, melts on its way down, and becomes refrozen before it hits the ground.

Flisfeder said about 12:30 p.m. Thursday the freezing rain should be over by about 1:30 p.m., and that a mix of rain and snow could arrive in the late afternoon and evening, possibly creating difficult visibility conditions."

Niagara could see light flurries Friday morning, but they will diminish by about noon, he said.

There is a lot of cold air" on its way to the region, which could also mean lake-effect snow on the weekend.

But it won't be anything compared to what Niagara, especially the southern tier along Lake Erie, experienced in mid-November. Places such as Fort Erie, Port Colborne and Wainfleet experienced as much as 60 centimetres of snow in some spots over a series of three blasts.

For the Niagara region in general, it shouldn't be too intense," Flisfeder said about the weekend.

He said the forecast remains a bit uncertain" due to unknown wind directions. If a southwest wind occurs, Lake Erie communities could be hit. If wind blows in a northwest direction, Niagara could be completely in the clear."

Flisfeder did not have official" data related to rain accumulation Thursday, but said freezing rain usually causes issues based on how quickly crews can lay salt and sand.

With any freezing rain event, there's always going to be a good chance of complications on the road," he said, noting that is materials are laid too early, they are often washed away" and not effective.

This story is in development. Check back for updates.

Kris Dube is a reporter for the Welland Tribune. Reach him via email: kris.dube@niagaradailies.com