Historical Snow-Related Events

The information has been extracted from:

Environment Canada's "Canada's Top Ten Weather Stories Archive", available online at
http:// www.ec.gc.ca/ meteo-weather/ default.asp? lang=En& n=3318B51C-1

• Toronto's Worst Single-Day Snowfall - December 11, 1944. A severe winter storm dumped 48 cm of snow on Toronto's downtown, while gale-force winds piled the snow into huge drifts. A total of 57.2 cm fell over two days. In all, 21 people died -- 13 from overexertion. Funerals were postponed, expectant mothers walked to hospitals, and there were no home deliveries of milk, ice or fuel. Of major concern, factories producing war ammunitions had to close temporarily.
• Deep Winter Snows - 1996. So much snow fell early in the winter that before 1996 even started, many cities in western and central Canada had all but exhausted their snow removal budgets. Hardest hit was the central Ontario snow belt from Barrie to Sault Ste. Marie, where on several' occasions, cars disappeared in snow drifts, service centres became refugee camps, roofs collapsed, and schools closed up.
• Toronto's Snowstorm of the Century - January 2-15, 1999. By the first day of winter in 1998 (December 21), Toronto had recorded only 4 cm of snow - the second lowest amount in 155 years of weather record-keeping in the city. But just 12 days later, a series of storms stalked the downtown core dumping nearly a year's amount of snow in less than two weeks. The worst storm hit on January 2, when much of southern Ontario - from Windsor to Kingston - was buried in snow between 20 and 40 cm., affecting more than five million people. In total, at least eleven people died and thousands of passengers at the Toronto airports were stranded on one of the busiest days of the year. Four additional storms ensured the snowiest two-week period since 1846. In all, the downtown station recorded the greatest January snowfall total with 118.4 cm and the greatest snow on the ground at any one time, with 65 cm. Toronto's Mayor requested help from the military, and 400 troops descended on the city. Civilian reinforcements, including 100 veteran plowers from Prince Edward Island, helped haul away one million tonnes of snow from the downtown area. In total Toronto's snow-clearing cost $70 million, more than twice its budget for the entire year. Further, the city lost nearly $2 million in parking ticket revenue. While Torontonians struggled with snow as high as buses and slop as deep as boot tops, it seemed that the rest of Canada was enjoying the city's plight, chortling in national unison, "Hey Toronto, this is Canada. It's winter!"
• The Never-ending Winter - 2001. In downtown Toronto, the snowcover finally disappeared on the first day of spring, marking the end of a 104-day stretch of snow on the ground - the longest on record in 130 years.
• Winter's First Big Storm - 2002. On January 31, a killer storm in southwestern Ontario brought a messy mix of snow, ice pellets, freezing rain and rain. Fierce winds with gusts up to 110 km/ h and a quick freeze turned the region into a skating rink. OPP closed the 401 eastbound near London after a transport truck loaded with more than 35,000 kg of apples rolled. High winds blew down hydro lines and trees. In the Sudbury area, 20 cm of snow fell and the temperature plunged to -20°. Numerous flights in northern cities were either grounded or delayed. Five deaths across the province were directly attributed to the storm.
• Winter's Big Blow - 2002. On March 9, a powerful weekend wind storm with peak winds to 138 km/ h played havoc across southern Ontario. The winds toppled signs, broke tree branches and triggered power outages and accidents. Temperatures dropped from 21° to -7°C in just a few hours. Snow squalls aggravated the situation, creating whiteout conditions. In Toronto, the debris littered some city streets making driving difficult. Outside the city, 100,000 homes were left in the dark after eight hydro-tower lines broke. Utility workers in Kingston said it was the worst wind storm in a dozen years. In the Waterloo area, blinding whiteouts and torrents of rain caused power outages, uprooted or severed trees, damaged homes and set off false alarms.
• Winter's Worst Days - 2005. A vigorous Alberta clipper which swept through southern Ontario on January 22 brought treacherous blizzards, blinding whiteouts and dangerously low wind chills. The highest snowfall totals were recorded near the west end of Lake Ontario where easterly winds blew embedded lake-effect squalls inland. Blowing snow created large drifts and reduced visibility to near zero. The OPP reported more than 800 accidents, mostly in the Toronto and Niagara region, and stretches of Highway 401 were closed with whiteouts and black ice.
• April Snowstorms Make For One Long Winter - 2005. A belated April Fool's Day storm lashed southern Ontario with upwards of 35 cm of heavy wet snow and 50 mm of rain, along with winds from the northeast gusting between 50 and 80 km/ h. The blast of winter-like weather threw southern Ontario into traffic chaos. The mixed precipitation event led to 500 accidents. Further, the storm knocked down power lines in several areas of southern Ontario, leaving thousands of people in the dark. The highest amounts of precipitation occurred over the Niagara Peninsula. In Kingston and Ottawa, many residents had to deal with waterlogged basements following record rains and a generous snow melt.
  
  On April 23-24, spring weather came to a brutish halt as wet snow and high winds pummelled southwestern Ontario. Residents in London, Windsor, Wiarton and other locations in western Ontario got a real white wake-up call, reminding them that despite spring being a month old, winter weather was still around. The freakish weekend snow storm in the London region knocked out power and caused havoc on the roads. Heavy snow weighed down tree limbs and cut off electricity to 19,000 homes, many from northwest of London to Grand Bend.
• Windsor - Ontario's New Snowbelt - 2005. Windsor is often referred to as "Canada's banana belt" and one of the least snowy cities in Eastern Canada. Not this year! From November 2004 through April 2005, Windsor got an incredible 225.5 cm of record-breaking snow - about 100 cm more than a normal winter's accumulation. The previous record was 199.6 cm in 1969-70. By the middle of winter, Windsor and its residents already knew they were into something exceptional. Hardware stores had sold twice as much ice salt and shovels as normal. By the end of March, the city had inched closer to its all-time winter snow record but with the season all but over, the record most citizens were now cheering for seemed out of reach. However, winter refused to die. A freak spring snowstorm lashed Windsor on April 23-24, awarding the city its snowiest winter on record. As a bonus, it could now boast the snowiest April ever with a total of 31. 6 cm.
• Non-Stop Snow - 2006. On February 5-6, an intense, long-lived snowsquall howled on for 48 hours across Southwestern Ontario. The storm closed highways, toppled trees and hydro poles and left thousands of hydro customers without power. In Listowel, power went out around 24 times in 24 hours. Many residents without power had to miss watching the Super Bowl. Hardest hit was an area within a 100-kilometres radius of Owen Sound, where police reported numerous road accidents, closed schools and cancelled bus service. More than 60 cm of snow fell in some areas. The weather shut down rural areas and small towns for days. Old-timers couldn't remember a storm like it.
• A Winter Storm with Everything - 2006. A large but not powerful storm struck southern portions of Ontario and Quebec from Windsor north to Sudbury and east to Gaspe on February 16-17. Its impact was enormous because the storm featured an array of severe weather conditions: high winds, a flash freeze, brutal wind chill, black ice, whiteouts, drifting and blowing snow, a rare thundersnow, and an incredible variety of precipitation types: rain, freezing rain, wet snow, ice pellets and a congealed mixture of all of the above. The nasty weather led to massive multi-vehicle crashes killing at least five people and leaving highways strewn with a trail of smashed cars and trucks. The worst of the chain-reaction crashes occurred on Highway 417 just east of Ottawa, where four people died. Some 37 vehicles, including several tractor-trailers, slammed into one another on icy roads buffeted by high winds and blowing snow. The police called the wall of snow the "ultimate whiteout". In western Quebec, a flash freeze with a temperature drop of 15 degrees in 3 hours, a –40 wind chill, and freezing rain and whiteouts made surfaces treacherous. Another massive chain-reaction pileup killed one man about 50 km northeast of Montreal. In total, 80 people were treated for injuries in what provincial police called the worst traffic accident in Quebec history. Hydro-Quebec reported outages to 157,000 households and claimed it was the worst day of weather-related electricity interruptions since the 1998 ice storm. Winds reached up to 110 km/ h blowing a freight train off its tracks and ripping a section off a school roof.
• Freak Friday 13th Snowstorm - 2006. A powerful pre-winter snowstorm on Friday, October 13 buried communities in the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario in 30 to 50 cm of wet snow. The surprise snow dump forced the closure of the Peace Bridge crossing to the United States. Officials in Fort Erie and Port Colborne declared states of emergency. The heavy snow and strong winds of up to 90 km/ h caused snow- and leaf-laden tree branches to snap onto power lines leaving more than 155,000 customers without electricity. In some pockets of the outage, it took up to five days to restore service. The amount of snow so early was historic. No snow had ever fallen at Fort Erie before October 13 and the previous heaviest October snowfall was a scanty 4.5 cm on October 31, 1993. In one day, it became the earliest and heaviest snow ever in October. At Welland, where weather records date back to 1872, the snowiest day prior to October 13 was 10.4 cm on October 11, 1906. The greatest October single-day accumulation was 20.3 cm on October 31, 1873. Back to 2006, the rain that night left hapless hydro crews feeling like drowned rats. The next day afternoon temperatures rose to 8°C, bringing a new set of problems from pools of melted snow, localized flooding and backed-up sewers.
• Snow Only for London - 2006. London dug out following one of the worst snowstorms in history on December 7-8. More than 40 cm of snow blanketed the city in less than 24 hours in a classic lake-effect snow burst. Unofficial reports had in excess of 65 cm inside the city, yet in the outskirts much less snow fell. London registered its first "snow day" in 25 years and businesses also took the day off.
• A Winter That Wasn't - Almost! - 2007. Owing to a persistent flow from the south and west, much of Canada experienced an incredibly mild beginning to winter. Until the third week of January, winter's temperatures were closer to those expected in fall and spring. In Niagara region, ice wine producers sat idly by as birds ate their grapes.
  
  The beginning of winter in December 2006 was spectacularly mild across Canada, setting a record for the warmest in the past sixty years. By the first official day of winter, most Easterners still hadn't experienced any significant cold or snow. Less than a centimetre of snow had fallen in Toronto.
  
  It was even too warm to fake or make the white stuff. A protracted January thaw dealt a crippling blow to Ontario ski operators. Blue Mountain Resorts laid off over 1,300 seasonal and part-time employees for more than three weeks. It was the first time the resort had been forced to shut down after a season opening. With such mildness, a lot of mice, bats, rats and other pests were busy breeding not sleeping. Even frogs, flies and bees were out and about. African animals at the Toronto Zoo were spending hours outdoors. The mindset was that winter was cancelled. For beleaguered retailers, long underwear sales stalled and snow shovels and winter boots filled store shelves. The good news was that the mild weather meant lower heating bills. In the first half of winter, residents in Ontario and Quebec saved 15 to 20 per cent on their home heating bills. Municipalities saved millions in snow removal costs and re-deployed workers for pothole repair. With air temperatures more like April than January and the ground free of frost, construction workers put in long hours in unseasonably mild and dry conditions. Paramedics reported fewer cases of frostbite and hypothermia. And it wasn't cold or snowy enough to warrant weather-induced heart attacks.
  
  Apart from areas directly to the lee of the Great Lakes, total seasonal snow didn't amount to much. At Toronto, it was the second least snow amount ever in winter - 60.3 cm compared to a norm of 115.4 cm.
• Snow - Finally - But Way Too Much - 2007. In Sault Ste. Marie, more than 100 cm of snow fell during the first 10 days of February, including two record-breaking 24-hour blizzards three days apart. Frigid Arctic air crossed over the still warm waters of Lake Superior, and the result was a perpetual snow machine for several days. Farther south in the Georgian Bay and Lake Huron snowbelts, some claimed it was too much snow too late. Some places were buried in the greatest dump of snow ever experienced in February, making getting to the ski hills risky and impossible at times.
• Cobourg Whiteout and Fiery Crash - 2007. On February 1, two people were killed and a dozen injured in a fiery vehicle pileup in the eastbound lanes of Highway 401 near Cobourg. The accident closed the highway in both directions. At least three transport trucks and 15 vehicles slammed into one another along the snowy stretch of road at around 12:20 p.m. Intolerable heat from a tanker blaze initially kept paramedics from the scene. The multitude of crashes occurred in whiteout and snow squall conditions near Lake Ontario.
• A Valentine's Day "Weather Massacre" - 2007. A massive winter storm stretching halfway across North America packed a lot of wicked weather - from terrible tornadoes in Louisiana to Paul Bunyan-sized snowfalls in southern Quebec - along with a good amount of rain, freezing rain, ice pellets and biting windchills. The powerful winter storm slammed into Ontario and Quebec just prior to and on Valentine's Day, forcing the closing of schools and sending cars and trucks spinning into ditches. In Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal the weather forced countless delays and flight cancellations, mostly to large American cities.
  
  Hamilton-Burlington, Ontario took the brunt of the storm as frigid air blowing over warm lake waters created a narrow snow band aimed directly at the western end of Lake Ontario. It dumped between 40 and 70 cm of snow in the area. Environment Canada reported 30.4 cm on February 13, making it the snowiest February day on record; 16 cm the next day made it the snowiest Valentine's Day ever. The combination made for the greatest two-day snowfall in Hamilton's history. The storm caused nearly 1,000 accidents across southern Ontario, including a 70-car pile-up near Ancaster. More than 3,000 calls were made to road-side services, mostly for pulling cars from snowbanks and fixing flat tires.
• March Roars in Like a Lion - 2007. The first week of March brought with it a storm that raced from Windsor to Ottawa. The weather featured everything: heavy snow, ice pellets, rain, freezing rain and some accompanying thunder and lightning. Adding to the misery were some strong gusty winds that drove the stinging mixture into the faces of pedestrians and reduced visibility to zero for motorists. Those opting for public transit faced long waits and a 30-minute commute took three hours. The weather forced delays or cancellations to more than 100 flights at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. Students across rural Ontario stayed home when buses were cancelled. Kingston schools closed for only the third time in the last 30 years. Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack cancelled its evening races and the University of Toronto shut its doors. Even Pizza Pizza stopped guaranteeing deliveries within a certain time. The hardest-hit area was in Clinton, Strathroy and Walkerton, near where the storm claimed the lives of two young children and left their mother in serious condition following a horrific crash. With strong winds and a thick glaze coating everything in sight, dozens of hydro poles toppled, plunging about 80,000 customers into darkness. In some darkened communities, power stayed off for up to a week.
• Highway 400 Whiteouts - 2007. On March 5, powerful winds whipped old and new snow into blinding whiteouts north of Toronto closing stretches of Highway 400 between Toronto and Barrie. One chain-reaction crash involved 75 cars, trucks, semi-trailers and a casino bus. Rescuers tried for hours to free two men who were trapped in mangled steel. Rural roads were treacherous, blocked by deep snow piled by strong gales and blizzard conditions. Officials halted school bus service, forcing parents to fetch their children. Even snow ploughs were taken off the roads.
• Winter's First Blast - 2007. On November 22, freezing rain and snow played a role in at least two highway deaths as the first major storm of the winter smacked the south. A crash-a-minute during the morning rush-hour was the going rate, not that unusual for the first winter storm. The combination of freezing rain mixed with snow and ice pellets in Arctic air created chaos on the roads, forcing temporary closures of many major highways. Several school boards north and east of Toronto cancelled buses. Toronto took the unusual step of issuing an extreme cold weather alert fearing homeless people had not yet acclimatized to sub-zero temperatures.
• Pre-Winter Weather Mayhem - 2007. On December 3, Ontario struggled through its first big winter storm that featured an ugly mixture of snow, freezing rain, ice pellets and rain. London got 60 cm of snow from the initial storm and from almost continuous lake-effect squalls over the next couple of days. Thousands of students stayed home for two days as icy roads and blowing snow made travel treacherous, especially north of London. Almost 200 drivers in the London area showed up at a local collision reporting centre on December 3, setting a record for the worst day ever for crashes. In Ottawa, the storm dropped 24 cm of snow in a 24-hour period.
• A Never-Ending Winter - 2008. Ontario (and Quebec) endured one of the longest and snowiest winters in years. At times, even snow enthusiasts had had enough and were desperate for spring. Every winter sees snow on the ground for weeks at a time, but not every winter has snow falling almost every day. Winter 2007-2008 was defined by the amount of snow and the record number of snow events. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin registered its third-wettest winter in 61 years, with most of the precipitation falling as the white stuff. Among locations recording above 500 cm of snow was: Muskoka, 558 cm. Other locations with new seasonal snowfall records were: Trenton (270.8 cm); Kitchener-Waterloo (251.9 cm); and Toronto Buttonville Municipal Airport (250.8 cm).
  
  Millions living in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto were denied records by a mere dusting or two. Safe to say, near the end of winter the majority of snow-weary citizens began quietly cheering for one or two more snowfalls just to be able to lay claim to a new standard. Apparently, securing a weather record would justify endless complaining about the winter from hell! But Nature had the last laugh. Toronto's snow total was 194 cm, just 13 cm shy of the record set 70 years ago. In a dramatic turnaround, Toronto's third-snowiest winter followed its second lowest the winter before of just 60 cm. Sadly, all that snow and nothing to brag about.
  
  The most remarkable amount of snow was in Ottawa, where an excess of 432 cm fell just 12 cm short of the venerable snow record of 444.6 cm in 1970-1971 - an event often regarded as a 1,000-year occurrence. Ottawans did not see bare ground for 143 consecutive days, from November 21 to April 11. This was the longest stretch on record and four days longer than the string of 139 snow cover days in 1970-1971. Less than a week before the first day of spring, snow on the ground in the nation's capital was at the season's deepest - 87 cm. During one particularly brutal four-day stretch in March, the city was pummelled with 73.2 cm. And while the snowiest month in history occurred in 1970-1971 (159.5 cm in February), Ottawa did claim its second- and third-snowiest months ever this winter (121.0 cm in December and 113.4 in March).

• Highway 400 Wrecking Yard - 2008. On January 20, a highly localized squall turned Highway 400 north of Toronto into a parking lot of twisted metal, trapping several people in their vehicles in bitter cold. More than 100 vehicles were involved in chain-reaction accidents caused by blinding, wind-whipped whiteouts. It was snowing so hard that conditions resembled dense fog. Dozens of people were injured in the crashes, but no one was killed, in part because poor visibility had already forced drivers to slow down. Buses were brought in to remove shivering folks stuck in sub-zero temperatures that were made even colder by fierce winds.

• Province-wide Power Outages - 2008. At the end of January, the combination of wicked winter chill, strong winds, and whiteout conditions left about 90,000 Hydro One customers in southern and central Ontario without electricity. The strongest winds were recorded in Niagara's Port Colborne at 126 km/h. Snow and violent winds shut down most of Sault Ste. Marie, including schools, community centres, malls, transit and restaurants. North of London, strong winds took out trees and power lines and caused numerous whiteouts and road closures. Waves in the open waters of Lake Erie's eastern basin were as high as 6 m. At Crystal Beach, wind-whipped waves drove water and chunks of shore ice some as much as a metre in diameter through living room windows.
• Groundhog Storm - 2008. Following the passage of a sharp cold front on February 1, another "old-fashioned" winter storm walloped much of southern and eastern Ontario with 30 cm of snow, freezing rain, ice pellets, and wind gusts of 70 km/h in sub-zero temperatures on Groundhog Day. Ontario Provincial Police responded to hundreds of minor crashes on area highways the vast majority single-car spinouts into ditches or guardrails. The storm forced the cancellation of more than 150 flights at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
• Pre-Halloween Winter Storm - 2008. A couple of days before the end of October, thousands of residents in Ontario and Quebec woke up to between 10 and 20 cm of wet snow and strong winds. The storm was whipped up by a fierce nor'easter on the east coast of the United States that dragged arctic air across the Great Lakes. Driving conditions were treacherous in zero visibility; however, drivers seemed to exercise surprising care during winter's first blast. High winds and heavy snows falling on trees still thick with leaves wreaked havoc on hydro in eastern Ontario.
• Lake-Effect Squalls Strand Motorists near London - 2008. Waist-deep snow and treacherous driving conditions occurred at Strathroy on a stretch of highway between London and Sarnia on November 21. Dozens of motorists were stranded and were forced to hunker down for a night on the road. Police used snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles to reach victims. Between 50 and 70 cm of snow blew off Lake Huron, burying cars and residents in a classic lake-effect mini-blizzard. Several roads blocked by stranded vehicles and drifted snow were impassable. The local squall generated 12 hours of whiteouts and drifts a metre high. Near London, about 25 cm of snow created chaos on the Highway 401 corridor, but that was nothing compared to the mayhem that occurred near Strathroy, west of London.
• No Snow in March - 2009. After enduring a particularly rough winter full of snow, slush and squalls, Hamilton was blessed with an entirely snow-free March and the least spring snowfall on record. The total March-to-May snowfall was 5.0 cm - all of it in April. The previous least snowy spring was in 1988 with 8.8 cm. In fact, there wasn't a measurable amount of snow from February 23 to April 6 - 42 consecutive days from the middle to the end of winter. Also practically snow-free were London, Kitchener and Toronto with 1.8 cm, 2.2 cm and 0.6 cm respectively.
• Snowless in Toronto - 2009. An unusually mild and storm-free November in Toronto featured not a single snowflake falling at a weather observing site. It was the first snow-free November recorded since 1937 at Pearson International Airport. Even more remarkable, downtown at Canada's oldest weather station - where snowfall observing first began in 1847 - not even a trace of snow (less than 0.2 cm) fell, for the first time ever. It was a close call! Less than two hours after the close of November, a snow shower descended on Pearson Airport with winter's first trace of the white stuff.   
• Classic Lake-effect Snows - 2009. On December 10, as residents of Ontario and Quebec shovelled out from the season's first general snowfall, cold westerly winds set up across the relatively warm open waters of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. An intense snow squall locked into 30-km-wide bands stretching across Muskoka and Haliburton. The monster squall blew relentlessly for two days dumping between 50 and 125 cm of snow in locales to the lee of the lakes. Yet, just 20 km on either side of the streamers, snow flurries fell with little accumulation. Bursts of heavy snowfall and driving winds created zero visibility and forced officials in Hunstville and Bracebridge to call a snow emergency - the first one that long-time residents could remember in 40 years.

The information below has been extracted from the Canadian Disaster Database (version 4.0), produced by the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (OCIPEP).

Available online at: http:// www.publicsafety.gc.ca/ res/ em/ cdd/ index-eng.aspx

Any event which impacts Canadians directly can be included in the Database for any of the following reasons:

• 10 or more people killed
• 100 or more people affected/ injured/ evacuated or homeless
• an appeal for national/ international assistance
• historical significance
• significant damage/ interruption of normal processes such that the community affected cannot recover on its own

RESULTS RETURNED: 9 (February 2005)

= = = = = = = = = = = [1] = = = = = = = = = = =

DEAD: 21

INJURED: 0

EVACUATED: 0

ESTIMATED COST: n/ a

REGIONS AFFECTED:

- Ontario

DESCRIPTION:

Blizzard: Toronto ON, Dec 11 1944. A blizzard produced 57 cm of snow over two days; accompanying strong winds caused huge drifts which paralysed the city for days. There were no home deliveries of milk, ice or fuel. Of major concern, factories producing war ammunitions had to close temporarily. In all, 21 people died, 13 from overexertion.

= = = = = = = = = = = [2] = = = = = = = = = = =

Blizzard: Barrie ON, Mar 18 1973

DEAD: 12

INJURED: 43

EVACUATED: 0

ESTIMATED COST: $66,537,000

REGIONS AFFECTED:

- Ontario

DESCRIPTION:

Blizzard: Barrie ON, Mar 18 1973. A bus-truck collision on Hwy 400 caused 12 deaths and 43 blizzard-related injuries.

= = = = = = = = = = = [3] = = = = = = = = = = =

Snowstorm: Niagara Peninsula ON, Jan 28 1977

DEAD: 0

INJURED: 0

EVACUATED: 0

ESTIMATED COST: n/ a

REGIONS AFFECTED:

- Ontario

DESCRIPTION:

Snowstorm: Niagara Peninsula ON, Jan 28 1977. The storm lasted 3 days and left 2000 people stranded by the end of the first day. 3,000 vehicles were left abandoned and had to be dug out and towed away. All cities experienced freezing of individual lines. St. Catharines reported 300 service calls during that weekend. Ontario Hydro had two major breaks in electrical power.

= = = = = = = = = = = [4] = = = = = = = = = = =

Blizzard: Southwestern ON, Jan 26 1978

DEAD: 8

INJURED: 400

EVACUATED: 0

ESTIMATED COST: $168,000

REGIONS AFFECTED:

- Ontario

DESCRIPTION:

Blizzard: Southwestern ON, Jan 26 1978. 32 cm of snow in 36 hours. Heavy snow and high winds (>115 km/ hr), extensive damage done; 400 injuries.

= = = = = = = = = = = [5] = = = = = = = = = = =

Snowstorms: Ontario and QuÈbec, Nov 1993-Mar 1994

DEAD: 0

INJURED: 0

EVACUATED: 0

ESTIMATED COST: $53,424,000

REGIONS AFFECTED:

- Ontario

- QuÈbec

DESCRIPTION:

Snowstorms: Ontario and QuÈbec, Nov 1993-Mar 1994.

= = = = = = = = = = = [6] = = = = = = = = = = =

Snowstorm: Southern ON, Dec 10-11 1995

DEAD: 1

INJURED: 0

EVACUATED: 50

ESTIMATED COST: n/ a

REGIONS AFFECTED:

- Ontario

DESCRIPTION:

Snowstorm: Southern ON, Dec 10-11 1995. An early Snowstorm hit southern Ontario with 10-15 cm of snow accompanied by wind gusts of up to 90 km/ h and a temperature of -40∫C. The storm caused the closing of highways, shopping centres and bridges, including the Peace Bridge between Ontario and New York. Muskoka airport and weather office were evacuated and Bracebridge had to enforce its municipal emergency plan. An elderly man's death was attributed to the storm.

= = = = = = = = = = = [7] = = = = = = = = = = =

Snowstorm: Southern ON, Jan 3 1999

DEAD: 11

INJURED: 7

EVACUATED: 0

ESTIMATED COST: $30,716,000

REGIONS AFFECTED:

- Ontario

DESCRIPTION:

Snowstorm: Southern ON, Jan 3 1999. Eleven people died Jan 3 while shovelling heavy wet snow from one of the fiercest storms to hit southern and central Ontario in years. Cities were buried under 40 cm of snow. The storm - which also packed powerful wind gusts up to 70 km/ h, ice pellets and freezing rain - moved in a line from Windsor northeast to Ottawa and Quebec. Many airports, including Pearson International in Toronto were closed.

= = = = = = = = = = = [8] = = = = = = = = = = =

Snowstorm: Toronto ON to Maritimes, Jan 13-15 1999

DEAD: 2

INJURED: 0

EVACUATED: 0

ESTIMATED COST: $122,000,000

REGIONS AFFECTED:

- Ontario

- QuÈbec

- New Brunswick

- Nova Scotia

- Prince Edward Island

- Newfoundland and Labrador

DESCRIPTION:

Snowstorm: Toronto ON to Maritimes, Jan 13-15 1999. Less than 2 weeks after Toronto was dumped with 40 cm of snow (see 1999.002), another major storm dumped 78 cm of snow on the city, bringing the total to 118 cm. The storm shut down parts of the city's transit system and left thousands stranded. An estimated 1.4 million commuters were unable to use public transit. Pearson airport cancelled 70 flights and delayed others, schools were also closed. Mayor Mel Lastman declared a second snow emergency and called in the military to help with snow cleanup, and city protection. More than 430 soldiers set up residence in Toronto. Brawling between commuters ensued Jan 13, when the subway shut down. Snowblowers from all over Ontario, and even PEI were called in to help. At least 2 deaths occurred in Southern Ontario. Other areas that were affected were Chatham-Kent region, which also called in for military assistance. The storm affected virtually all 7.1 million residents of Southern Ontario and continued east on Jan 15 to wreak havoc on the Maritimes.

= = = = = = = = = = = [9] = = = = = = = = = = =

Snowstorm: Barrie ON, Feb 13 1999

DEAD: 0

INJURED: 30

EVACUATED: 0

ESTIMATED COST: n/ a

REGIONS AFFECTED:

- Ontario

DESCRIPTION:

Snowstorm: Barrie ON, Feb 13 1999. A huge accident occurred on Hwy 400 near Barrie between Hwy 89 and Dunlop St. Up to 150 vehicles were involved in the crash, which spread over a 2 km stretch of highway. At least 30 people were injured, 6 in critical condition. Poor winter weather and whiteout conditions were blamed for the accident.