Stuck on the road somewhere? I’m not surprised. This new map of Toronto road closures, though still in beta, highlights all the problems you have getting around this city.

There’s a good article at Motive Magazine about winter tires. While they define three categories, one of their categories are still all-season tires which I don’t recommend for winteres – even in Toronto. Instead I’ve removed that catagory and added a third: the performance winter tire.

Ice and snow tires - the most hardcore of winter tires and is used for driving on packed snow and ice. Perfect for Dawson Creek weather but probably a bit too hardcore for Toronto with our adequate snow removal.

Winter tires - the “true” winter tire which is made to be good in snow but won’t give the same performance on packed as and snow as the “ice and snow” tires. However, these will not wear away as quickly when driven on lots of dry ashphalt and highway driving. These are best suited for Toronto winters.

Performance winter tires - these are a pretty new catagory and basically are winter tires made for low-profiles like sports cars. These generally have higher speed ratings as winter tires but you sacrifice some snow traction. I’ve been using the Pirelli Wintersport 210′s which fall in this category. Good for getting around but if there is 4″ of snow on the ground, stay home.

If you’re still running on all-seasons, it’s not too late to buy a set of winter tires and not have white-knuckle driving this Monday – yes, a storm is coming.