Via the National Post: Ontario winter storm expected to dump up to 30 cm of snow. Excerpt:
The storm bearing down on Ontario may not be a genuine winter behemoth, but it is shaping up to be the most substantial snowfall most Ontarians have seen in more than four years, Environment Canada said Thursday.
Senior climatologist David Phillips said the storm — set to start making its mark on southern Ontario late Thursday — will leave a large swath of the province painted white by Friday evening.
The storm is expected to hit parts of Quebec by Friday before moving onto New Brunswick and Nova Scotia over the rest of the weekend, dumping up to 30 centimetres of snow as it goes.
Toronto residents can expect up to 15 centimetres of snow, while regions as far west as London and as far east as Kingston may see upwards of 30 centimetres.
Such quantities are not all that remarkable in and of themselves, but Phillips said they may feel that way due to their novelty.
Toronto hasn’t seen a snowfall exceeding 15 centimetres since Dec. 19, 2008, he said, adding the precipitation from the current system represents nearly half the total snowfall for all of last year.
“In the scheme of things it’s not a record, but in terms of what we’ve seen in the relatively near past, it is a big one,” Phillips said in a telephone interview.
The storm’s novelty sent many Toronto residents flocking to Twitter.
Local businesses promoted everything from hot soups to reduced snow hotel rates. Students expressed their hopes that tests would be cancelled, but the Toronto District School Board said no decisions on closures would be made until the morning.
Some residents tweeted they would skip work Friday to avoid treacherous driving and pedestrian conditions, but the majority of the social media chatter focused on mocking the city’s reputation for premature winter panic.
“Toronto needs to relax… it’s SNOW, not the end of the world,” wrote one user.
“Tell your Toronto friends to suck it up and deal with snow without whining, just like the rest of Canada does,” wrote another.Update: According to Macleans.com, here in Canada the storm is now known as Blinding Nemo.
