[LINK] "Winter wallop grounds hundreds of flights at Toronto's Pearson Airport"

[rfmcdonald]

I hate it when people talk about 'snow-mageddon.'

The first of a trio of wintry wallops expected before Christmas fully delivered on Environment Canada's prediction of "snow-mageddon" for the holidays, with hundreds of flights grounded Friday on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

With major airport hubs like Toronto, Chicago and New York cancelling scores of trips, holiday travellers questioned whether they would make it to yuletide gatherings - including one family whose journey from B.C. to Nova Scotia had entered its third day.

The culprit: a volatile mix of snow and high winds.

At least 20 centimetres of the white stuff was expected across Ontario before the storm was expected to push eastward, whipped up by 60 km/h winds that reduced visibility on runways and roads alike.

Hundreds of collisions were reported on Ontario's highways and roads.

[. . .]

On Wednesday, Environment Canada outlined predictions for a series of snowfalls in a weather bulletin, adding "could this be snow-mageddon?"

"Environment Canada is generally not prone to exaggeration," the special weather statement read.

"The term 'snow-mageddon' is not meant to alarm anyone or make light of the situation, but to highlight the cumulative effects and impacts that a series of snowstorms can have on a wide region."

The next blast was expected to roll into Ontario late Saturday, with a third predicted for mid-week.