Blizzard hits Montreal, city urges people to stay off the road

How Montrealers were coping with another major snowstorm hitting the region.

Quebecers should bundle up because much of the province will have seen more snow in the last week than it did all of last year, according to climatologist David Phillips.

About 35 centimetres of snow fell on Thursday and anywhere from 25 to 40 more is to come Sunday as much of Quebec is under a winter storm warning. A blizzard warning was issued for the Montreal, Quebec City, Vaudreuil and Valleyfield-Beauharnois areas.

Several schools and daycares have announced they will be closed on Monday due to the storm.

READ MORE: Here are the schools, daycares that will be closed Monday due to the snowstorm

Strong winds are causing widespread blowing snow and reducing visibility to almost zero, according to Environment Canada. The storm is expected to last into the early hours Monday.

“I saw this morning about 10 o’clock, the visibility is just plummet from 13 kilometers to eight to half a kilometre,” said Phillips.

“This storm is just arriving as it was scripted and came in on time, and it’s not about to leave.”

Environment Canada recommends limiting non-essential travel, and the City of Montreal is urging residents to stay home as much as possible until Monday evening.

Quebec’s Ministry of Transportation said it expects considerable traffic disruptions and difficult driving conditions.

Over 100 flights coming in and out of Montreal were cancelled or delayed. Check the status of a flight here.

Even when the snowfall slows, strong winds up to 70 kilometres per hour will continue to blow it around “in every nook and cranny that’s available,” said Phillips. Very cold temperatures are also expected.

“This is a very, very dangerous situation. There’s virtually no movement should take place. It’s impossible to move, whether it be to drive or to walk or just get about it is it is really one of the more memorable, historic kind of snows,” he said.

Phillips attributes the high snowfall to the cold air from Ontario and Quebec meeting the moisture coming from the United States, resulting in persistent heavy snow.

A total of 70 to 90 centimeters of snow would have fallen in about a week — almost a third of the expected annual snowfall.

“You’re going to have to shovel it and plow it maybe two or three times before it settles down. And then you’re going to run out of places to put all the snow,” said Phillips.

Cleaning it all up will be a major task for the city.

Montrealers are also asked to park their vehicles as safely as possible and to clear the pavements of any obstacles to allow access for emergency vehicles and equipment to clear the network.

The city is asking people to favour public transit. Crews launched a special snow-loading operation following Thursday’s storm to clear priority roads in preparation for the snow expected this weekend.

Snow loading was interrupted in the last few hours so that teams could concentrate on clearing the network, the city said.

All this snow can place an extreme amount of strain on infrastructure.

Renovation expert and Renovco president Walter Assi is warning home and business owners. He says to watch out for things like blocked piping, blocked air vents and other potential snowball effects.

“The things you can do yourself now are things like clearing a passage in your deck or removing the snow from the deck. That’s less dangerous. The tempo is less dangerous. Things like that you could do and you should do them periodically,” Assi said.

It’s advice that many are taking to heart and they’ll want to keep in mind for the rest of the season.

It’s quite the opposite. Phillips adds intermittent periods of heavy snow could become the pattern for the remainder of the season.

20 vehicle pile-up closes Highway 20

Around 20 vehicles were involved in a pile-up in Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover, forcing the closure of Autoroute 20 for an undetermined period at Route 255 westbound.

The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) confirmed to Noovo Info that multiple collisions occurred at kilometre 182 of the highway.

The exact number of vehicles involved is not yet known, but there are currently about 20 involved, including heavy goods vehicles.

The road is therefore closed indefinitely and a diversion via the local network is in place.

CAA gives driving tips

André Durocher, spokesperson for CAA Quebec, said it’s best to stay home, but those who have to drive can take steps to do so safely.

He stresses that winter tires are a must, to make sure all windows are clear, put your phone away and plan to travel at reduced speed.

“Very often, people say, ‘Well, I’m in a straight line. I’ll reduce you know, there’s no problem.' Yeah, but what if you have to slam on the brakes? What if something you know, unexpected pops up in front of you, a kid, anything. I would say, very easily, double your time no matter where you’re going,” said Durocher.

For those driving outside the city, he recommends travelling with blankets and a flare in case things go south.

If you find yourself stranded, Durocher says to turn on your hazard lights and get out of the way of traffic. And if your car is stalled, also open your hood, so people will know that this is a stalled car.

With files from CTV News Montreal’s Anastasia Dextrene and Noovo Info