Schools closed - hundreds of accidents from largest winter storm of the season

A major multi-vehicle accident forced the closure of Highway 73 south of Levis, Quebec. (Photo by Jean-Philippe Veilleux via Facebook)

Students were given a rare snow day in Montreal and across most of southern Quebec on Friday, as the biggest snowstorm of the season hit the region. Strong low pressure raced from northern Virginia across interior southern New England and into New Brunswick by days end. The system spread heavy snow across the St. Lawrence Valley, with a storm total of 35cm in Montreal. Elsewhere in the province up to 50cm of snow fell. In Ontario, 25-35cm fell from Ottawa south into the Seaway. A record low barometric pressure for February of 970.2mb, was recorded in the center of the storm over Connecticut. Montreal's lowest pressure was an impressive 979.8mb at 2pm on Friday. The storm could have been even worse, but moved rather quickly across our region.

Conditions were less than ideal within the city limits as well, with rapidly accumulating snow making driving and parking difficult. (ValleyWeather Photo)

Strong winds occurred with the snow, gusting to 61km/h in Montreal and as high as 95km/h in the Quebec City area. The winds produced widespread blowing snow, enough to create white-out conditions, closing several highways in and around Quebec City. Visibility was under 1km for most of the day in Montreal. Provincial Police reported over 1200 separate accidents across the province as a result of the storm, including two multi-vehicle collisions. One occurred on Highway 20 at the Ontario border, forcing the closure of the road and long delays. The other was near Levis involving as many as 35 vehicles. Another major accident occurred on Highway 40 in Vaudreuil during the afternoon commute.

Keeping the streets clear during the storm in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. 
(Photo - Ville de Sainte Anne de Bellevue)

Air travel was hit hard by the storm, with hundreds of delays and cancellations reported at Trudeau Airport. The airport in Burlington, Vermont closed Friday for the first time in 20 years. Inter-city buses as well as those within metro Montreal faced long delays.

The storm was far reaching, spreading heavy snow from Texas to Newfoundland. On the warm side of the system, severe weather, tornadoes and flooding stretched from Louisiana to Pennsylvania.