Barrie received 43cm of snowfall during three-day weather event

The City of Barrie got dumped on over three days with more than 40 centimetres of snow accumulation.

Environment Canada says the November blast of lake-effect snow that hammered parts of the region delivered some major snowfall totals to start off the season.

In a weather summary issued on Monday, the agency reported the storm affected several communities during the three-day event from Friday to Sunday.

Preliminary information gathered by Environment Canada reveals Barrie was blanketed with 43 centimetres of snow, Uxbridge recorded 39 centimetres and Markdale reported 23 centimetres. The agency notes some of these measurements came from volunteer observers and CoCoRAHS.

The weather agency had issued a high-impact snow squall warning early Friday, advising hazardous bands of lake-effect snow off Georgian Bay were expected to remain nearly stationary through the day and into Saturday morning.

And it wasn’t wrong.

Once the snow started, it seemed endless for over 24 hours in the Barrie area, creating havoc on the roads with car slipping and sliding and pedestrians forced to navigate sidewalks covered in deep, heavy piles of the white stuff.

City crews worked around the clock to respond to the first wave of the multi-day storm. According to Dave Friary, Barrie’s director of operations, plows, sanders and sidewalk machines were deployed throughout Friday and Saturday. He also noted a few side streets couldn’t be cleared on schedule because of parked vehicles, but crews eventually got the roads cleared.

The early storm is just the beginning of the winter season, so keep those shovels handy and the snow blowers ready because Mother Nature is only getting started.