The same weather system was behind the blizzard that hit Saskatchewan and Manitoba on Monday and Tuesday, causing at least four deaths and shutting down schools, businesses, roads and airports.
By mid-afternoon Wednesday, the storm had dumped as much as 30 centimetres of snow on some areas of northwestern Ontario.
The provincial police urged people to avoid driving, saying the Trans-Canada Highway was closed between Vermillion Bay and Kenora while many other roads were treacherous.
Winnipeg bus, out of service.
Environment Canada's weather office was predicting more snow and freezing rain in northern Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec and New Brunswick.
Meanwhile, southern Ontario was being buffeted by wind gusts of more than 70 km/h in some areas while temperatures plummeted.
Snow-struck Prairies under cold snap
Winnipeg
Earlier Wednesday, temperatures dipped to nearly –30 in parts of southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan that were still digging out from the first major blizzard of the season.
- PHOTO GALLERY: Manitoba's first blast of winter
At 6 a.m. ET, the temperature in Regina was –27.9, with fog depositing ice on surfaces throughout the city. Winnipeg was slightly warmer at –11.4, but was registering a wind chill of –21.
Manitoba cities such as Brandon and Winnipeg had received up to 30 centimetres of snow by late Tuesday as the system blew in from Saskatchewan.
Poor visibility in Saskatchewan continued a day after the storm was blamed for the four road deaths.
- FROM NOV. 14, 2005: 4 die in snowstorm accidents
In Manitoba, emergency officials closed the Trans-Canada from Virden to Winnipeg early Tuesday morning, and roads were in "poor condition" throughout the southeast part of the province.
"It's quite an intense system and it's very wet, so most of the snow that's out there is very heavy," said Anne-Marie Palfreeman of Environment Canada.
Mail delivery was halted in Winnipeg, where many airport flights were cancelled.
Municipal officials expect to spend $3 million out of an annual $14.1-million snow-clearing budget to deal with the storm's aftermath.
Even snowplows ended up in ditches near Brandon, and people driving less substantial vehicles across the region waited up to three hours for help from tow-trucks.
Tow-truck driver Shawn Zorback was moving around rescuing motorists until he ran into trouble himself.
"We're stuck just like everybody else, and frankly, it's not fun," he told CBC News.
Buses were running at least an hour behind schedule, if they were running at all.
"Whoever is in charge needs to be really realistic as to what the road conditions are before they make the decision to cancel or not to cancel [bus service]," said Sharon Romanow, who spent 20 minutes trying to calm down her disabled daughter Tuesday morning.
Sarah, 19, had spent two hours on a school bus full of disabled students that got stuck several times while trying to bring them back to their houses.
Related
Video
- Jo Lynn Sheane reports for CBC-TV (Runs: 2:20)
play: RealMedia »
play: RealVideo »
play: QuickTime »
WINNIPEG WEBCAM
(Updates automatically)
More Canada Headlines »
- Atlantic Canada braces for New Year's Eve storm
- Canadians in Atlantic Canada are bracing for a New Year's Eve storm expected to blanket the region with as much as 35 centimetres of snow.
- Blast in Afghanistan kills Canadian soldier, injures 4
- One Canadian soldier was killed and four were wounded when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Sunday, military officials said.
- Canadians will pay less taxes in 2008
- Canadian workers, consumers and businesses will all start paying less taxes starting New Year's Day.
- I have eyes, ears near Williams, Hearn boasts
- Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn has thrown more fuel into his feud with Danny Williams.
- Calgary moves against trans fats
- The Calgary region is to become the first in the country to require restaurants to cut the use of trans fats, suspected of killing up to 5,000 Canadians a year from heart disease.
Canada Features
Blog Watch
Most Blogged about CBC.ca Articles
Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - link will open in new window