Atlantic Canada walloped by colliding snowstorms and blizzard conditions while Ontario, Quebec dig out

Canadian Press | Feb 9, 2013 10:33 AM ET | Last Updated: Feb 9, 2013 12:28 PM ET
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Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press    Motorists battle whiteout conditions on Highway 13 as a snowstorm dumps up to 15cm of snow Friday, February 8, 2013 in Laval, Que.The storm has now moved over Atlantic Canada.

 

A major snowstorm is bearing down on Atlantic Canada today, prompting dozens of flight cancellations and knocking out power for thousands in western Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Environment Canada has issued blizzard warnings for Nova Scotia and much of eastern New Brunswick, with 30 to 40 centimetres of snow expected in some regions by Sunday morning.

The national forecaster says the blizzard conditions — the product of two fierce snowstorms that are combining — will also bring 20 to 30 centimetres of snow to Prince Edward Island.
Newfoundland is also expecting a blanket of snow — up to 45 centimetres by Sunday night.

“Just the fact that we have a blizzard warning for such a large area… is something that we haven’t seen for the past few years,” said Paula Sutherland, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
“We are looking at blizzard conditions… the snow and blowing snow combined will give poor visibility — at times possibly reduced to zero — throughout the day and evening,” she said.

Nova Scotia Power says 21,000 customers are without electricity in the province’s Annapolis Valley and on the South Shore, where forecasters have warned that higher than normal water levels could cause flooding.

New Brunswick Power says on its website that roughly 1,100 customers, most of them in the Rothesay area, are without power.

Most of today’s flights have been cancelled at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, and all Marine Atlantic crossings have been cancelled.

Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press    Workers clear parts of a vehicle following an accident on 

Highway 40 near Montreal, Friday, Feb. 8, 2013, as a snowstorm hit parts of Eastern Canada 

and the United States.

 

Forecasters say in some parts of Atlantic Canada, the snow will be whipped by winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour, cutting visibility to almost zero.

Forecasters also warn there could be some flooding along the Nova Scotia coast between Halifax and Yarmouth.

Very few cars could be seen on the roads in downtown Halifax Saturday morning as blowing snow whipped through the streets, creating near white-out conditions.

Several businesses were closed or operating on a reduced schedule, including the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation.

Darren McCollester/Getty Images    People shovel snow as flood waters go down the street on Feb. 9, 

2013 in Winthrop, Massachusetts.

 

In the northeastern U.S., more than half a million homes and businesses are without power because of a powerful storm that has dumped up to half a metre of snow on Connecticut.

People in the Boston area are digging out of 40-centimetres of snow.

On Friday, the massive weather system grounded flights, totalled cars and shut down schools as it moved across Ontario and Quebec.

Darren McCollester/Getty Images    The ocean overflows the sea wall on Winthrop Shore Drive Feb. 9,

2013 in Winthrop, Massachusetts.

 

The storm churned its way eastward throughout the day, painting Ontario white from Windsor through to Ottawa.

Environment Canada said most regions found themselves under 15 to 25 centimetres of snow by day’s end.

“The amounts do vary, but no one’s been left out of the snow on this one,” senior climatologist David Phillips said in a telephone interview. “I think it has followed through just as we thought.”
Much of the traffic-related trouble was centred in Toronto, where more than 350 collisions had been reported since midnight.

Police reported they had received over 500 calls to accidents in the Toronto area and CAA says it received more than 2,800 service calls.

The spike in accidents came as little surprise to some, since Torontonians have grown accustomed to nearly bare streets during four consecutive winters without significant snowfall.

By Saturday morning, Toronto’s weather was cold but sunny.

- With files from National Post