Some areas in Ontario forecasted to receive up to 25 cm of snow by Thursday afternoon

Much of southern Ontario is cleaning up from a major winter storm, while snow remains in the forecast for parts of eastern Ontario.

Ottawa and much of eastern Ontario remains under snowfall warnings Thursday, with most regions expected to be digging out from under as much as 20 centimetres of snow by the time the storm ends later in the afternoon.

The blast of winter weather prompted many public and Catholic school boards, including those in Toronto, Ottawa, York Region, Peel Region and Durham Region to cancel buses, but schools remained open.

Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board cancelled buses and closed schools, but schools at Hamilton’s Catholic board remained open.

Environment Canada said that by Thursday morning, some areas west of Toronto including Halton, Peel and Hamilton could see up to or just over 25 centimetres of snow, while eastern regions toward Prince Edward County and Kingston could also see accumulations around that amount.

The storm disrupted travel plans for thousands of people Wednesday after Toronto’s Pearson International Airport reported 25 per cent of its departures and 26 per cent of its arrivals were cancelled, but by Thursday morning those numbers had dropped significantly.