ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — An intense winter storm grounded flights, shut down schools and stopped public transit Monday morning in St. John's, N.L., leaving the capital of Canada's easternmost province to dig out from under 40 centimetres of snow.
Residents could be seen shovelling paths through waist-high drifts in an effort to clear a route to their nearly buried cars. A video circulated on social media showing someone driving a snowmobile on a residential street downtown.
The nastiest part of the storm hit Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula overnight, and it began to taper off on Monday morning, said David Neil, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.
"This storm did pack a pretty good wallop over the Avalon Peninsula, but there were a couple of other areas in eastern Newfoundland, too, that didn't escape unscathed," he said in an interview Monday.
It was a "very intense" weather system, he added.
Winds began picking up Sunday night, blowing the swiftly falling snow horizontal at times, and some normally colourful houses in St. John's were painted with white by Monday morning. Gusts reached more than 95 km/h in the capital, and the St. John's International Airport reported snow accumulations of more than 40 cm Monday morning.
Along the Avalon's southern coast, winds were much more ferocious, reaching 143 km/h at Cape Pine, N.L. Nearby Cape Race recorded winds hitting 126 km/h, Neil said.
The RCMP advised people to stay off the roads and stay home as crews cleaned up.
Shawn Leroux said he was thrilled when he looked out the window Monday morning to see vast expanses of white. He spent the first half of his day Monday shovelling and making snow forts with his children.
The storm was the first big dump of snow for the eastern part of the province this winter, and Leroux, who is the youth development coordinator with the Avalon Nordic ski club, was excited to finally get a good base for skiing.
"This (snow) is actually quite fluffy and pleasant to play in," Lereoux said in an interview. "From a recreation standpoint, it'll probably take a day or two to get skiing, just because there's so much, it needs to start packing down."
The ski club grooms trails in Pippy Park, just outside the downtown core, and at Butter Pot Provincial Park, which is about 30 kilometres southwest of St. John's.
Neil said the deep snow should stick around through the week, though warmer temperatures could set in next week. "That's still a bit up in the air at this stage," he said.
Buses were back on the road in St. John's Monday afternoon, but schools, courts and government buildings remained closed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2025.
The Canadian Press
