Coast to coast snow in Canada by Kirsty McCabe
Violent snow and rain storms have been pummelling much of eastern and western Canada over the weekend. St John’s (Newfoundland) was plunged into darkness on Sunday evening after two days of harsh weather cut power across the region. With snow swirling in winds estimated at over 50 mph (80 kmh), the only lights visible were the auxiliary lights at the port and a single driving car.
On the opposite coast, higher temperatures and heavy rains are expected, following a weekend of snow. Temperatures that had been hovering near freezing over the weekend are expected to rise to 11 Celsius (52F). This means the snow blanketing parts of the region will melt very quickly, prompting British Columbia (B.C.) officials to issue a flood watch for central and southern Vancouver Island.
Elsewhere 10 to 20 cms (4 to 8 inches) of snow combined with brisk northeast winds are expected in Montréal and the forecast calls for more snow in Toronto. Some travellers in Nova Scotia have already felt the effects of the storm. At Halifax Stanfield International Airport, flights to Toronto were cancelled or delayed on Sunday.
Recent winters have been milder than usual and so the cold start to December has come as a bit of a surprise. On Friday, Environment Canada forecast an unusually cold winter for much of the country for the first time in more than a decade. ‘La Nina’ is said to be behind the inhospitable forecast. This is a vast cold pool of water off the coast of South America that typically brings colder and snowy weather to Canada. It is the opposite of ‘El Nino’.
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