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Winter slams Canada: Storms sweep the nation, with little relief on the way

From piles of snow to intense winds and heaps of rain, much of Canada is experiencing some rough weather.

Maritimes

Atlantic Canada has been through what meteorologists have been calling a “weather bomb” with one of the strongest storms on the planet.

Newfoundland, including areas around St. John’s, experienced extreme winds with gusts exceeding 100 km/h, according to Brett Anderson, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather.

But as the wind is dying down, the snow continues to fall across the Maritimes with some areas, particularly Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, expected to see some mixed precipitation and freezing rain into the weekend.

“Although this storm is bit weaker than recent storms with less of wind threat, a more southerly track means that significant snow will extend further south,” Dr. Doug Gillham, Weather Network meteorologist said in a statement on the forecaster’s website. “That’s all the way to the Bay of Fundy with significant accumulations for Fredericton, Moncton, and Charlottetown, as well as parts of Cape Breton Island.”

Ontario

Moving west to Ontario, this is the first time the most populous Greater Toronto Area is seeing significant snowfall this season. People in the area saw some mixed precipitation, leading to hazardous driving conditions, that resulted in several crashes along the region.

According to the Weather Network, southern Ontario will see up to 10 cm of wet snow on the ground in some areas, with a mostly slushy commute for residents on Friday evening.

Around the Ottawa area, snow accumulation is expected to be slightly higher, with up to 15 cm of snow on the ground, while another burst of lake effect snow is expected around the typical snow belt in the Huron-Perth region.

Meteorologists are expecting temperatures to be colder than normal, being described as a December-like cold pattern.

Quebec

In Quebec, many areas in the southern areas of the province are still under Environment Canada snowfall warnings, including Montreal.

Similar to the Ottawa region, much of the area is expected to see up to 15 cm of snow.

A low pressure system from the United States will affect Southern Quebec until this evening,” according to Environment Canada. “The snow will be steady this morning and will taper off beginning midday.”

Alberta

Alberta was certainly not spared from the stormy weather. Environment Canada has wind and snowfall warnings for several areas, mostly in the southern portion of the province, including Red Deer.

The government weather agency is anticipating up to 20 cm of snow today, in isolated pockets of Alberta.

A number of accidents have also been reported on highways around Edmonton as well, but much of the immediate area around the city only saw a few centimetres of snow.

British Columbia

The most westerly province in Canada is one of the few areas of the country that has some relief from the storms. Although the Alberta and B.C. border saw some snowfall, the most populous areas of the province were largely spared.

According to Environment Canada, people in Vancouver can expect a sunny weekend, with high temperatures around 7 C or 8 C. Similar temperatures are expected in Victoria, with temperatures possibly a degree warmer than Vancouver over the weekend.

In the northern portion of the province, around Fort Nelson, some snow is expected tomorrow but only 2 cm to 4 cm.

Very little relief in sight from the snow

Any initial predictions indicating we might be getting relief from this cold and stormy weather are looking like distant memories.

According to Anderson from AccuWeather, these mild temperatures are going to be less significant than initially predicted and these more mild temperatures do arrive, it will only be centered around southern Ontario – but the chill weather will still persist into next week.

“It no longer looks like we will have an extended period of milder weather, and a more wintry pattern is expected to resume as we head into early December,” Gillham said in a statement on the Weather Network website about the possible Ontario warm up. “The first week of December looks like a cold and potentially active period for our region.”