A Toronto resident snowshoes down a side street after the Dec. 16, 2007 storm. (CBC)
In Depth
FORCES OF NATURE
Wintry blasts of the past
Sizing up Canadian snowstorms
Last Updated December 17, 2007
CBC News
Canadians shovelling out from the major snowfall that blanketed Central and Eastern Canada on Dec. 16-17, 2007, had reason to be awed by the storm's fury.
About 30 to 40 centimetres fell on southern Ontario and Quebec before the system blasted into the Maritimes. Winds gusted up to 100 kilometres an hour in some places.
That's a lot of snow, to be sure — the city of Ottawa even set a single-day snowfall record with 35.7 cm. But how does it compare to other wicked winter weather events in Canada's recent past?
Here are some of the biggest Canadian winter storms of the past 65 years:
1999: A snow record falls
Tahtsa Lake, B.C., set the record for the largest one-day snowfall measured in Canada on Feb. 11. About 145 centimetres fell in the remote area west of Prince George within a 24-hour period.
That's as much snow as Whitehorse typically receives in an entire year, and more than people in Calgary, Edmonton or Winnipeg see annually.
The storm came 25 years after nearby Lakelse Lake, B.C., was walloped with a record 118 cm in a single day.
A Canadian Forces armoured personnel carrier drives into Toronto's downtown core in January 1999. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)
1999: Toronto calls in the army
A snowstorm dropped 39 centimetres on the city on Jan. 2, 1999 — but that was just the beginning of Toronto's snow problems. The flakes kept piling on, as a series of storms rolled in the following days.
After a 27-cm snowfall on Jan. 14-15, more than a metre of snow had been dumped on the city. That promoted Toronto officials to call for military assistance in clearing roads, to the amusement of Canadians across the country.
> Watch: CBC archives
1998: The ice storm
Eastern Ontario and southern Quebec received major damage in this January weather disaster. In Montreal, about 100 millimetres of ice accumulated after five days of freezing rain, ice pellets and some snow.
At least 25 people died in the storm's aftermath, and a million people were left without power, some for weeks. A reported $3 billion was spent on the cleanup effort.
> Watch: CBC Archives
1996: West coast wallop
Victoria can often claim to be Canada's snow-free city. Not so in December 1996, when a two-day storm blanketed Vancouver Island and B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
An improbable 65 cm of snow fell on Victoria in a day, bringing public transit to a standstill. Vancouver received a record 35 cm, and highways were also closed across the Fraser Valley.
> Watch: CBC Archives
1982: P.E.I. blanketed
With 100 km/h winds and snowfalls of up to 60 cm, this February storm brought Prince Edward Island to a standstill for a week. The island was cut off from the mainland, and trains were buried in snowdrifts up to seven metres high.
1977: Niagara blizzard
A major storm struck the Niagara peninsula and western New York in January 1977. The total snowfall for the storm was fairly modest, at 60 cm, but the wind's bluster made it unique.
Gusts of more than 80 km/h were reported for several days and piled drifts several metres high in places. Temperatures dropped to –20.
The Regional Municipality of Niagara declared a state of emergency on Jan. 29, and the U.S. government declared a federal disaster area in New York a few days later.
1971: Montreal slammed
Seventeen deaths were blamed on the city's worst recorded winter storm on March 4, 1971. Winds of up to 110 km/h created massive snowdrifts from the 47 cm of snow that fell.
In the end, about 500,000 truckloads of snow were hauled out of the city.
1967: Alberta blizzards
Intense winter storms created chaos in the southern part of the province between April 17 and 29, when 175 cm of snow fell. According to Environment Canada, army units were dispatched to assist in snow clearing.
1966: Winnipeg storm
For two days in March, Winnipeggers were warned to stay at home in the face of a winter blizzard that dropped 35 cm of snow on the city. Winds of 120 km/h made driving impossible, as drifts clogged local highways.
1947: Prairie blizzard
This 10-day storm closed some rural roads and railways in Saskatchewan until spring and affected communities from Winnipeg to Calgary.
1944: Toronto storm
Almost 50 cm of snow fell during a severe winter storm, blown into huge drifts by gale-force winds. At least 21 people died in the storm, which produced a total of 57 cm in two days.
Source: Environment Canada
MENU
- Autumn: Why leaves go red
- Equinox
- Extreme heat
- Forest fires: Urban areas
- Frostbite
- Monsoons
- Snow
- Little-known facts about snow
- Summer solstice
- Summer weather
- Tornadoes
- Wind chill
- Wintry blasts of the past
More:
CBC stories on storms
- Bush visits still-ravaged Gulf Coast 1 year after Katrina (Aug. 28, 2006)
- Ernesto dumps rain on Cuba as Florida watches (Aug. 28, 2006)
- New Orleans was a sitting duck when Katrina hit: study (June 1, 2006)
- 9 hurricanes predicted (June 1, 2006)
- 'Very active' hurricane season ahead (May 22, 2006)
- Southeast Asian typhoon leaves 88 dead, hundreds missing (May 19, 2006)
- Deadly typhoon slams into China (May 18, 2006)
- Another big blow belatedly swells 2005 storm season (April 13, 2006)
- Bush was warned about threat of Katrina, video shows (March 1, 2006)
- Katrina response a 'national failure': report (Feb. 13, 2006)
- Tropical storm Zeta stirs in Atlantic (Dec. 30, 2005)
- Canadians donate over $1 million for hurricane Katrina relief (Sept. 2, 2005)
- Hurricane Katrina is upgraded to a dangerous category 5, heading for the Louisiana coast (Aug. 28, 2005)
