Snow squalls and cold return to Quebec & Ontario

Carnage on the 400 series of Highways in Ontario. This wreck involving 100 cars was south of Barrie. (CTV)

Multiple snow squalls along a sharp arctic front caused a mess on Ontario roads during the morning commute on Thursday spreading into southern Quebec last evening. A wall of snow and wind pushed off Georgian Bay yesterday morning engulfing Highway 400 south of Barrie, creating zero visibility. Nearly 100 cars were involved in the quick wreck closing the highway for most of the day. Three people were taken to hospital while others were treated at the scene. Buses were brought in to protect drivers and passengers from the extreme cold that has returned to Quebec and Ontario. The front arrived in Montreal late last evening with a series of heavy squalls putting down a quick 2-5cm of snow from the South Shore and here on L'Ile Perrot across the Townships and down to the US border. Gusty winds and blinding snow made travel last night south of the city challenging for a few hours.

A spectacular shot of a snow squall advancing on the northern GTA on Thursday. As we always warn, you can really see how it can go from sunshine to a whiteout in seconds. (CTV)

This morning skies have cleared and it is just plain cold again. I have -19C (-2F) here on L'Ile Perrot and that seems to be a popular temperature around southern Quebec and eastern Ontario. The wind is making it feel like -29C (-20F). Windchill advisories are in place for portions of Ontario and New York but none here in Montreal. I guess we are just too tough for the cold now. Any way you look at it temperatures are cold, running about 10 to 15 degrees below the normal high/low for late February. It will be sunny today but only make it to -12C. Another weak clipper system and cold front will bring light snow to the region on Saturday into Sunday with perhaps 2-5cm. The main storm track will remain well to the south of southern Quebec over Pennsylvania. Temperatures will warm briefly on Saturday to -4C before a cool down Sunday.