Parry Sound residents digging out after heavy snowfall

It was follow-the-leader in single file for drivers on Highway 400, all the way from Port Severn to Parry Sound this morning as an intense snow squall drifted down the eastern shore of Georgian Bay.

Bob Armstrong drove north through the squall on his way to French River and was relieved to come out the other side unscathed.

“It hasn't been closed but there are stretches there where it is complete white-out and it's down to five miles an hour, and even then cars are slipping and sliding,” he says.

While driving in the squalls can make for some downright scary moments behind the wheel police says there have been few problems on the roads here in Muskoka today, largely because many people listened to the weather warnings and avoided travelling.

School buses were cancelled along with many events in the region. Before anybody could go anywhere they had to dig out first and sometimes it was difficult to tell cars apart after being parked overnight. Paul McKee says the squall hit Parry Sound hard.

“It's been nonstop, practically,” McKeen says. “I know they have had the 400 closed on a couple of occasions over the last two days and we are just getting a lot of lake effect. It's just really hammering us.”

From Jamie Law's perspective, this is the perfect start to the snowmobile season here. He says the squall delivered 70 centimetres to his home in Seguin.

“We ploughed it, we were blowing it, and it kept coming and coming and coming,” he says.

The sun did return to Parry Sound today as the squall moved south but Armstrong says drivers shouldn't be fooled by the moving line of snow.

“It’s very deceiving, it's bad,” he says. “There are cars in the boulevard,  in the ditches, all over.”

Roads are snow-covered across most of Parry Sound and Muskoka, and drivers should expect reduced visibility as the snow squalls continue.