The winter storm that hit Quebec forced the closure of more than a thousand schools in the province on Friday, when snow and freezing rain made travel much more difficult on several major highways.
Updated yesterday at 6:32 p.m.
“Given the weather conditions and for security reasons, all establishments, daycare services and administrative offices are closed for the day,” said the Montreal school service center (CSSDM), among other things, at the start of the school year. the day, followed by many others, including the Marguerite-Bourgeoys and Pointe-de-l’Île school service centres, as well as the English-Montréal (CESM) and Lester-B.-Pearson school boards.
Outside Montreal, the school service centers of Chaudière-Appalaches, Mauricie, de la Capitale, Sorel-Tracy and even Sherbrooke have also closed their doors.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Many roads were covered in snow and visibility was reduced in several places from the start of the day.
In total, nearly forty educational groups have chosen to interrupt their activities, again for reasons of student and staff safety. No course or distance learning was provided in the vast majority of schools.
It must be said that many roads were covered in snow and visibility was reduced in many places on Friday morning. In Montreal, this was particularly the case at the junction of the A13 and the A20 at the Louis-Bisson bridge, from L’Île-des-Sœurs to the Décarie interchange, as well as at the junction of the A40 to A520 to Saint-Léonard. In Montérégie, roads 112, 137 and 139 — to name a few — offered very little visibility. Ditto for a good portion of Highway 440 in the capital and on several segments of Highway 20 between Quebec and Montreal.
At the Sûreté du Québec, no major event involving injuries was reported at the end of the day, but its spokesperson, agent Catherine Bernard, noted “a few road trips” in connection with the winter storm. A loss of control involving several vehicles occurred in particular on the Pie-IX bridge, in Montreal, at the start of the day. Several trucks also had difficulty traveling on Highway 25 North, at the exit of the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine bridge-tunnel, creating traffic jams at various times.
Canceled flights, behavior to adapt
The snow also disrupted activities at Montreal-Trudeau airport, where a series of departures and arrivals were delayed or canceled due to the quantities accumulated on the ground. More than twenty direct connections were indeed glued to the ground from the start of the day.
In the Montreal area, 18 cm fell on Friday, while Quebec received 25 cm, said Antoine Petit, meteorologist at Environment Canada. As for the Laurentians and Lanaudière, nearly 20 cm of snow fell in these regions. The snow stopped in the morning and at midday for most of the affected places.
Estrie and Beauce were treated to freezing rain the day after a rainy day, making some roads more slippery than normal. These areas received only 5 cm of snow.
“Adapt your driving to changing road conditions. Rapid snow accumulation could make travel difficult in some areas. Visibility can be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow,” Environment Canada advised on Friday, calling on citizens to assess the possibility of “delaying all non-essential travel until conditions improve.”
Two small low pressure systems from western Canada could bring snow to the province on Saturday and Sunday, said Antoine Petit of Environment Canada. “For the weekend, we expect to have 5 to 10 cm across the province,” he said. Tuesday afternoon, a mixture of rain and freezing rain could fall on southern Quebec, added Mr. Petit.
With the collaboration of Florence Morin-Martel, The Press