Highway 400 southbound has reopened

Texas Low tightens grip Environment Canada Warning Preparedness Meteorologist Gerald Cheng sits down with CTV News and talks about this Texas Low and what’s behind it as this winter storm tightens its grip on Southern Ontario.

Barrie — Highway 400 Southbound between the 5th Line and Canal Road has reopened.

The southbound lane was shut down for several hours Thursday afternoon due to the intense weather conditions.

"We are dealing with some very strong wind gusts right now. We have already had problems on the roads. There was a transport truck pushed off the road jack-knifed into the concrete along Highway 400 Southbound," said OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt.

Earlier today, Environment Canada issued numerous warnings for much of Southern Ontario Thursday.

Snowfall warnings, snow squall warnings and blowing snow advisories are in place in the region.

Environment Canada warns of white-out conditions as the wind kicks up to 60-kilometres per hour.

In the warning, the weather agency says, "A snow squall currently extends from Georgian Bay to just north of Barrie and into Lake Simcoe. Snow squalls are expected to intensify and increase in coverage later this afternoon. These snow squalls will then continue through Friday night in some areas."

The OPP have responded to hundreds of crashes since the weather intensified Wednesday evening.

Traffic in the northbound lanes of Highway 400 was also brought to a halt this morning when a dump truck driver lost control of his vehicle and flipped it near Highway 9.

City of Barrie crews are focusing on priority roads.