ice falling toronto

Ice chunks are falling from buildings in downtown Toronto

Flying patio chairs aren't the only hazard to watch out for this week in Toronto's skyscraper-stacked downtown core.

Sharp, heavy shards of frozen water are dripping from the sky today as temperatures ever-so-slightly rise, prompting buildings to shed the layers of ice they've been rocking since Tuesday's winter storm.

They're not breaking windows or tearing holes through the Skydome like we saw last April with the CN Tower, but falling icicles can be deadly to humans from towers of all heights at the right speed and angle—which is why Toronto Police have been closing off some city sidewalks today.

Yonge Street has been closed off to both to pedestrians and vehicles between College and Gerrard Streets since around 10:45 a.m. this morning on account of falling ice.

Bloor was closed not too long after from Yonge Street to Park Road for the same reason.

"We are receiving reports from various locations around the city for falling ice," wrote Toronto Police in an advisory around 2 p.m., after warning of several different hot spots around the city throughout the day. 

"At this time as temperatures have gotten a bit milder, we'd like to urge everyone to please use caution as you go about your day, particularly in the downtown area."

Indeed. Torontonians have been sharing footage on Twitter all day of potentially deadly ice rocks dropping down from above.

In some cases, the ice is coming down in sheets.

In others, they're more like snow shards.

And the taller the building, the scarier the potential fallout if someone were to get hit.

In many cases, you can hear the ice crack when it hits the hard pavement below.

Of course, as many point out, it's not the first time this has happened in downtown Toronto and it likely won't be the last. Perhaps not even the last this week, with another cold weather spurt on the way.

Stay safe out there, friends.

Lead photo by

Lauren O'Neil


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