Smallest amount of snow in nearly 10 years falls at Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario

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Published May 2, 2024 at 3:33 pm

Not much snow at Pearson in Mississauga this winter.

A small army of workers outfitted with the latest in heavy-duty snow-clearing equipment was ready to do the job when called upon at Pearson Airport in Mississauga this past winter.

With more than 100 snowplows, tractors, trucks and other pieces of machinery lined up and ready each day if needed to clear the runways of as much snow as Mother Nature could deliver — dozens of inches of the white stuff? No problem, bring it on — airport officials were confident the large planes scheduled to take off and land could do so even in the most challenging of wintry weather conditions thanks to the ground crews and their big toys that could quickly move the snow to where it wasn’t in the way.

As it turned out, the army wasn’t needed all that often this past winter as Pearson received its lowest amount of snow in nearly a decade.

Snowy scenes like this were few and far between this past winter at Pearson Airport in Mississauga as the area experienced a much milder winter.

In a post to social media on Thursday, airport officials noted Pearson received just over two feet of snow the entire season.

They said it really wasn’t a typical winter for the GTA.

“… we had a total of 67 cm of snow accumulation over the season (at Pearson). That’s only half of what we saw last year … with a total of 149.1 cm,” Pearson officials said in a post to X (formerly Twitter). “We experienced the heaviest snowfall in January this year, with 27.4 cm. The last time we saw barely any snowfall was the winter of 2015/2016 where we had only 65.9 cm of snow.”

Scenes such as this, in which only a dusting of snow fell on the airport and surrounding area, were more common this past winter.

Pearson officials said earlier they’ve never been better equipped to handle nasty winter weather when it does come. And while one winter may be mild, the next could bring much more snow.

They said at the outset of this past winter that “our state-of-the-art snow removal equipment is ready to keep the runways clear so aircraft can land and take off safely during snow events.”

They added at the time they’re also well prepared for the crucial function of de-icing planes so they remain safe once in the air.

By the numbers, the airport lists the following among its specialized snow removal vehicles and equipment:

  • 40 snowplows
  • 18 snow tractors
  • 15 wheel loaders
  • 14 de-icing trucks
  • 12 snowblowers
  • 7 front-mounted sweepers

(Image: Pearson Airport)

It wasn’t that long ago Pearson’s ability to keep the runways clear of snow and ice was severely tested.

Mississauga and numerous other areas in the GTA and southern Ontario were hit with a winter storm for the ages on Jan. 17, 2022.

That crippling snowstorm — and a follow-up storm a couple of days later — kept crews at Pearson working round-the-clock for most of the week trying to clear the runways in, at times, blizzard conditions.

Despite best efforts, and simply due to unsafe flying conditions, dozens of flights into and out of Pearson Airport were cancelled within a short period of time.

In total, Pearson and surrounding areas received anywhere from 33 centimetres to upwards of 40 cm of snow on Jan. 17, 2022 alone. The airport usually averages 40 cm of snow per month.

The 45 cm of snow dumped on many parts of Mississauga that day was the most the area has received in a single day since 1944, when the city was known as Toronto Township.

Social media post from Pearson Airport on Jan. 17, 2022, the day Pearson and the rest of Mississauga were hit by an historic snowstorm. 

(Cover photo and other photos: Pearson Airport X)

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