Central Canada blanketed as 'mammoth' storm sweeps eastward

Just as many Canadians grow anxious to see signs of an early spring, those in much of the eastern half of the country have been hit with yet another major snowstorm.

People in Central and Eastern Canada were forced to cope with yet another winter wallop on Saturday, as the storm caused hundreds of flight delays and cancellations across the regions.

Meanwhile, the storm was being blamed for a dramatic accident in Quebec Saturday afternoon involving as many as 20 vehicles near Lavaltrie, about 60 kilometres northeast of Montreal. Provincial police said at least 10 people were injured in the highway collision.

Weather advisories are in effect across Atlantic Canada, from rain and wind warnings in Nova Scotia, to snow and freezing rain warnings in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Environment Canada's David Phillips said the storm is impressive because of its size and duration.

"It's a huge event, we can't diminish the point or can't emphasize enough that it's a mammoth storm," Phillips said.

"The other thing that's quite impressive is it's a 36-hour event, and this is not a typical kind of a weather event in Canada which typically can last 10 to 12 hours."

After a brief lull in the storm Saturday morning for southern Ontario, the second wave of the system moved in. The region will receive a total of about 30 centimetres of snow in total over the weekend, Environment Canada said.

Parts of eastern Ontario could be buried under more than 40 cm, with half of that arriving Saturday.

Hundreds of flight delays, cancellations

Airlines reported hundreds of cancellations and delays in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa, complicating travel plans for snowbirds eager to escape for March Break.

Meanwhile, police had to close Ontario's Highway 401 near Kipling Avenue in Toronto for a short time early Saturday to allow salt trucks to move through the area.

"It was pretty icy through that stretch of the highway," said Const. Dave Woodford of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Woodford said 600 car accidents in southern Ontario had resulted in some minor injuries but no major casualties.

In the Ottawa area, provincial police said they had responded to nearly 200 collisions since the storm began.

Roads were covered in snow throughout most of Quebec, but Transport Quebec didn't report any major accidents.

Winds are gusting at 70 km/h in Ontario and Quebec and are expected to increase later in the day, causing poor visibility.

Freezing rain overnight in Atlantic provinces

Up to 80 millimetres of rain was expected in southern Nova Scotia through the evening hours.

Freezing rain was expected across parts of Newfoundland and Cape Breton and most of New Brunswick late Saturday and overnight.

"We're looking at six to nine hours of freezing rain through the evening and overnight," CBC meteorologist Teresa Fisico said.

Northern New Brunswick could see 20 cm of snow.

At least three deaths in the United States are being blamed on the storm that moved into Canada.

Ohio was hit hard on Friday. One woman was killed when her vehicle ran off an icy road and hit a utility pole.

Further south in Arkansas, nearly 40,000 people lost power because of the storm.

Texas torrent

The weekend storm stems from several meteorological phenomena, Environment Canada's Mitch Meredith said:

• It originated in Texas and had a lot of time to gather moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.
• It is tracking northeastward, and "with a lot of cold air in the north, it will draw in a lot of moisture from the East Coast."
• It is deepening to a very low pressure, which causes high winds.