Canada Shivers in Big Chill, Shovels in Big Snow

Jan. 27, 2004

TORONTO (Reuters) - Severe weather warnings were issued in nine of Canada's 13 provinces and territories on Tuesday as heavy snowfalls, or extreme cold, or both, hit most of the country.

The bitter weather sent wild chills dipping to -50 Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit) in parts of British Columbia, while areas of Ontario and Quebec were getting buried in the second day of a snowstorm, and bitingly cold blizzards were sweeping through parts of Atlantic Canada.

Such a uniform display of "weather misery" across the country is highly unusual, said David Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada, the government weather agency.

"This is Canada -- the second largest country in the world -- so the east-west extent is quite huge. Typically, what you see is the west is basking in the sunlight and the east is freezing in the dark," he said.

Toronto was blanketed by snow for a second day on Tuesday forcing flight delays at Pearson International Airport, Canada's busiest, and playing havoc with rail and road travel.

Toronto and southern Ontario were forecast to receive up 45 centimeters (18 inches) of snow by Tuesday night but temperatures had moderated to about -8 C (18 F).

In the Montreal area, frigid temperatures caused an ice build-up on Rivieres des Prairies, and flooding in parts of the city.

On the East Coast, crews tried again to restore electricity to southern Labrador, which has been without power since early Monday, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said. Many schools throughout the region were closed.

In the West, temperatures hit -30 C (-22 F)and thousands of homes and businesses in Calgary, Alberta had no water after a watermain break on Sunday.

Canada's coldest spot on Tuesday was Watson Lake, Yukon, with a temperature of -49 C (-56 F) but no weather warning had been issued for the far northern region.

"It's brutally cold there in the Yukon, and yet, no warning," Phillips said, noting that warnings take into account what people in each region consider normal.

"I mean, -40 C? There would be people falling down in the streets of Toronto. And yet, up there, they can probably handle it. And obviously they do because there is no weather warning with bitterly cold -40 C (-40 F) temperatures."

Environment Canada expects most of the weather warnings to be lifted by Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday as the snow and wind subside.

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