Serious snow-storm right now in MTL. Nearly 40cm of snow today!

Eastern Canada walloped by 'mammoth' storm
Up to 50 cm of snow expected in some areas
By MICHAEL OLIVEIRA, CP

TORONTO -- If there's any consolation for those who were covered in snow yesterday by the "mammoth" storm in Eastern Canada, it's that they may go down in history as witnesses to one of the snowiest winters in recorded history, said Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips.

SNOWED UNDER

The storm crossed from southern Ontario to Newfoundland and Labrador, and Environment Canada predicted some of the worst hit areas would get up to 50 cm of snow, while most would get anywhere between 10 to 30 cm.

Some cities have already topped their records for annual snowfalls, and others like Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto could set new marks if they receive an average amount of precipitation in the next few weeks.

Those cities were pushed within range of their records after yesterday's storm, which Phillips said was "quite impressive" because of its size and staying power.




The storm dropped 30 cm of snow in Arkansas, created tornadoes in Florida, and heavy rains in the southeastern parts of the United States before beginning its expected day-and-a-half tear through Eastern Canada.

"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."

That extended bout of bad weather delayed or postponed travel plans across Eastern Canada and hundreds of flights were cancelled.

Although most flights at Toronto's Pearson Airport were on schedule in the morning, delays became increasingly more common as the day wore on and more than 100 flights were cancelled by late afternoon.

Nearly as many flights were cancelled in Montreal and more than five dozen were cancelled in Ottawa by midday.

It may be difficult to grin and bear it now, but Phillips said Canadians will be able to think back to these dreary days with stories of how they survived one of the worst winters ever.

Toronto's snowiest winter on record was in 1937, when 207.4 cm fell. If the city's final tally for yesterday is around 25 cm as expected, it would be less than 10 cm away from the record.

OTTAWA TOPS 370 CM

As of yesterday morning, Ottawa had been dumped with 374 cm this winter, which is the second snowiest winter on record. This year's snowfall trails only the winter of 1970-71, which had 444.6 cm of snow.

The record is still well within reach for Ottawa since the city's average amount of snow in March through May is 51 centimetres, Phillips said.

Montreal was at 319 centimetres of snow as of Saturday morning, just 64 centimetres short of the record.

"If they get 25 or 30 more (yesterday) they're going to be around 350, one good storm away from breaking a record," Phillips said.

judging by the way that that radar illustrates wind, i would say that cork has been picked-up and deposited somewhere near dublin...

when did u move to montreal????