Weather advisories, crashes, some roads closed as 70 km/hr winds possible

Blowing snow creates reduced visibility on a road in Barrie, Ont., on Mon., Feb. 17, 2025. (CTV News/Steve Mansbridge)

As the calendar flips to March, Barrie, southern Simcoe County, areas along the southwest shore of Georgian Bay and many towns just north of the Greater Toronto Area remain under a winter weather travel advisory for Saturday.

According to Environment Canada, snowfall accumulations are not expected to be significant, but the concern is the wind. The national weather agency states that winds gusting up to 70 kilometres per hour could carry bands of heavy snow, causing reduced visibility.

Areas under the advisory include Barrie, Innisfil, Newmarket, Aurora, Georgina, New Tecumseth, Wasaga Beach, Collingwood, Blue Mountains and Owen Sound among others.

Numerous roads have been closed Saturday morning in townships west of Barrie.

According to the Township of Springwater, those closures included Flos Road 4 West, Flos Road 6 West, Flos Road 7 West, Flos Rd 8 West, Flos Road 10 West, Flos Road 11 West, Tiny-Flos Townline, Ushers Road and Highway 26 west of Horseshoe Valley Road.

County Road 92 in Elmvale and County Road 10 in Alliston have been temporarily closed following reported crashes, two of several other collisions reported by police on Saturday.

Environment Canada expects the snow bands to weaken and move out of the area by Saturday night.