Southern Ontario is being blanketed in snow, but it’s not the first time Canadians have had an extreme winter weather wallop.
Global News takes a look back at some of the biggest winter storms in Canada.
White Juan, 2004
As Atlantic Canada was still recovering from Hurricane Juan in 2004, it was hit by another weather bomb – this time a winter storm dubbed “White Juan.”
It happened quickly: the snow fell at five centimeters per hour, and continued for twelve hours. All-time 24-hour snowfall records were broken in Halifax, Yarmouth and Charlottetown, which all saw almost a metre fall on Feb. 18.
States of emergency were put into effect in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. for four days. It took almost a week before schools re-opened and bus and ferry services resumed.
Luckily, no storm-related injuries or deaths were reported.
Army helps Toronto, 1999
Toronto is still trying to live down calling in the Army in the wake of a severe 1999 storm.
Though Canadians in the rest of the country were amused, the storm itself was no laughing matter. More than a metre of snow fell in January, two weeks apart, bringing life in the city to a standstill.
Some 400 soldiers helped Toronto residents dig out of their homes.
Over a million tons of snow was removed from the downtown core. The relief effort cost about $70 million, more than double the city’s annual budget.
Ice storm, 1998
The Toronto deluge came just one year after the 1998 ice storm in eastern Ontario and southern Quebec that killed at least 25 people.
Freezing rain and snow fell on Montreal for five days starting January 5, until the city was covered in 10 centimetres of ice.
One million people were without power, some for several weeks. People suffered from hypothermia or carbon monoxide poisoning as they huddled by their fireplaces.
Storm damage was estimated at $3 billion.
PEI storm 1982
Over 60 cm of snow, 100 km/hr winds and temperatures of -35C paralyzed PEI for a week in Feb 1982.
The snow buried trains and plows under 7-metre high drifts, cutting off access to the mainland.
“˜Snowstorm of the century’ 1971
On March 4, 1971, Montreal had one of its worst snow storms on record, dubbed by the media “Snowstorm of the century.”
Seventeen people were killed and 47 cm covered Montreal. Snow drifts reached the second stories of buildings, as city trucks hauled away 500,000 loads of the white stuff.
Winds reached 110 km/hr and downed cables and poles, cutting off electricity in some areas for up to ten days.
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