Thirty centimeters of snow that have fallen since Friday morning in greater Montreal has caused headaches for travelers, who have seen their flights delayed for several hours, or even canceled.
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During the first day of storm, Friday, no less than 88 flights – 45 arrivals and 43 departures – were canceled at Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport due to weather conditions, spokeswoman Nadia Benelfellah said. .
Photo Agence QMI, Mario Beauregard
It was Saturday the beginning of the shoveling, as much for the older than the younger, here on Rachel and Garnier streets, in Montreal.
Saturday, around 6:30 p.m., 41 planes had not been able to take off from YUL since the morning because of the snow that was still falling on the province at that time.
Photo Agence QMI, Mario Beauregard
Hundreds more have been delayed for hours. Between 5 a.m. and 12 p.m., only two flights left at the scheduled time, TVA Nouvelles was able to observe on the spot.
12 hour wait
Less fortunate travelers had to take their troubles patiently for more than 12 hours: their takeoff scheduled for 11 a.m. in the morning for Varadero, Cuba, was finally delayed until 11:30 p.m.
Most seemed resilient to the situation regardless, as they were flying in for a vacation.
Since very early Friday morning, 25 to 35 centimeters of snow have fallen on Greater Montreal depending on the sector, said Julien Chartrand, meteorologist at Environment Canada.
Photo Agence QMI, Mario Beauregard
There was about 2 cm left to fall on Saturday evening
before the end of this broadside.
“It was a long-lasting event with two periods when there was more sustained snowfall of around two or three centimeters per hour. This helped to limit impacts on road conditions,” he explained.
Moreover, the Sûreté du Québec reported no major collision in greater Montreal during the storm, according to spokesperson Hélène St-Pierre.
The extreme south of the province is where there have been the highest accumulations.
If, earlier this week, it was believed that an all-white Christmas was now assured, the thirty centimeters of snow could finally come to disappear before December 25, because of “a major system expected towards the end of the week ” next.
“On the other hand, there are still a lot of uncertainties since the system is only in a few days, Thursday late in the day and Friday. It could be a snowfall, but also significant rain with a potential thaw, ”said meteorologist Julien Chartrand.
– With QMI Agency