Montrealers: stay home today and tomorrow, city says in midst of snow dump encore

The City of Montreal is asking residents to stay home as much as possible until Monday evening, as crews work to clear a second round of snow dumped on the city by Sunday's winter storm.

"Stay home, stay warm. We'll do the job for you," said city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin while speaking to reporters outside the Square-Victoria Metro station. 

Some school boards are announcing closures ahead of Monday, including the English Montreal School Board and Riverside School Board.

The Lester B. Pearson School Board, for its part, says it's cancelling all elementary school daycare services Monday. Students there already have a scheduled day-off tomorrow.

Up to 30 centimetres of snow fell on the greater Montreal area in less than 12 hours Sunday, according to Environment Canada.

Montreal and Quebec City are bracing themselves for around 40 centimetres of snow by the end of Monday morning.

Maximum snowfall estimates are 50 centimetres for the Eastern Townships and 70 centimetres for the Gaspé Peninsula. 

Sabourin said snow-clearing teams had managed to clear nearly 1,000 kilometres worth of city roads by 2 p.m. today. But, with the storm persisting through Monday, the city needs the collaboration of the population. 

Environment Canada issued a blizzard warning on Sunday afternoon for much of southern and central Quebec along the St. Lawrence as well as the Gaspé Peninsula. The agency issues this type of warning when widespread reduced visibility is expected for at least four hours.

Provincial police reported a 20-vehicle pile-up, including trucks, on Highway 20 near Drummondville, Que., Sunday mid-afternoon, citing the weather as a contributing factor. Police spokesperson Ève Brochu-Joubert says there were no serious injuries.

Much of the rest of the province — from the Outaouais region to the North Shore — is under a winter storm warning. 

Work from home if possible, city says

Sabourin said people should work from home Monday, if possible, and leave their houses only for essential travel and use public transportation. He said those scheduled for garbage collection tomorrow should postpone taking out their bins to next week, if possible, to make the process easier for crews.

Teams will need another eight hours following the end of the storm to complete the snow clearing operation. The city hasn't set a date yet for the start of the snow removal operation.

The City of Montreal published tips on how to face the blizzard on its website, including making sure emergency exits around dwellings are cleared.

It says if people need to drive, they should keep an emergency kit in their vehicle and share travel plans with friends or relatives. If your car gets stuck in the snow, you should stay inside unless you can find refuge in a nearby building, and turn on the engine only occasionally so as to not deplete the battery, the city wrote. 

Sunday's storm has led to the cancellations of over 170 flights out of Montreal's international airport, while in Quebec City, nearly 10 flights were called off. At both airports the cancellations affect mostly domestic flights.

The city got its first taste of heavy snowfall this winter on Thursday when a storm blanketed Montreal with over 30 centimetres of snow. 

The city spokesperson described this week's deluge of snow as "quite exceptional."

"In 20 years, I never saw two huge snowstorms in only three days," Sabourin said. "We're in a better position actually to manage that second storm."