Heavy Snowstorm Strikes City

UPDATE 3:53 PM

Snow and blowing snow is blanketing parts of the city, with up to 30 centimetres forecast by the end of tomorrow.

Environment Canada is maintaining a snowfall warning for Thunder Bay and Fort Frances calling for 10 to 20 centimetres today. Meteorologist Crawford Luke says Thunder Bay is also expecting another 10 centimetres of snow and ice pellets Monday.

It’s also affecting the Atikokan – Upsala – Quetico area. Ignace – English River has its own weather alert calling for a total of 15 to 30 centimetres and possibly ice pellets. Other parts of the region will get some snow and strong wind gusts, but Luke notes they are only predicting 5 to 10 centimetres for the Dryden and Kenora areas.

The snow is expected to taper off this afternoon. For the city, we will see more snow and ice pellets start up again overnight. Environment Canada is warning you to expect poor travel conditions today.

The Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge is declaring a Significant Weather Event, noting “the municipality may not be able to meet maintenance standards due to the accumulation of heavy snowfall over the next 48 hours.” Roads in the municipality will be plowed starting at 4:00 AM. In the region, officials in Fort Frances are also declaring a Significant Weather Event.

As for local highways, there are a handful of closures. There is a disabled tractor trailer blocking the eastbound lane of Highway 17 between Raith and Shabaqua. As of 9:50 last night, the westbound lane of Highway 17 is blocked by a disabled vehicle 6 kilometres east of Shabaqua.

On Highway 102 at the Kaministiquia River Bridge, a disabled tractor trailer is blocking the eastbound slow lane. If you’re travelling in the region, there is also a jack-knifed tractor trailer in the westbound lane of Highway 17 just east of English River.

Hydro One and Synergy North are not reporting any outages in our area.

At the airport, several flights are delayed or cancelled.

Departures:

Arrivals: