Snowmageddon 2020: Newfoundland’s Historic Blizzard
Published: Saturday, January 18, 2020 - 10:00PM NST
By Alannah Franks
GOES-16 satellite image from Friday morning shows the storm approaching newfoundland. (RAMMB/CIRA)
As much of the country is aware, much of Newfoundland was hit by an intense blizzard yesterday (Jan. 17th). Leading up to the storm, meteorologists and forecasters were watching weather models predict more and more snow as well as stronger and stronger winds. It wasn’t long before the phrases “historic”, “record breaking”, and “storm of the century” were being used. By Thursday evening, it seemed to be the case, with forecasts calling for over 75cm of snow and wind gusts over 140km/h for a single day event for the Avalon and Bonavista Peninsulas. You can take a look at our own forecast here.
Many precautions were taken ahead of the storm; all government offices and schools in the St. John’s and Metro area were closed and Metrobus Transit stopped service for Friday. Air Canada also issued a travel advisory for both the St. John’s (YYT) and Gander (YQX) airports.
The snow began in the southern regions of the province in the early morning hours and pushed north into the rest of Central and Eastern Newfoundland by dawn and it quickly intensified. The heavy snow began in the St. John’s area around 9:00, setting up for 12+ hours of blizzard conditions. By 11:00am, the City of St. John’s; shortly followed by the surrounding communities of Mount Pearl, Paradise, Torbay, Portugal Cove-St. Phillip’s, and Conception Bay South; declared a state of emergency ordering all businesses to be closed and all vehicles off the roads except for emergency vehicles. According to St. John’s mayor Danny Breen, this is the first state of emergency the city has issued since 1984. These orders are still in effect at the time of writing and will be until further notice.
The storm very quickly brought the entire region to a standstill and soon, social media became flooded with pictures of giant snowdrifts and front doors that opened to walls of snow. Like with most things, Newfoundlanders took this storm in stride and soon those walls of snow became impromptu fridges for snacks and beverages, especially if the power went out. A personal favourite of mine is a video of a person out in the middle of the storm with a Newfoundland flag.
At its peak in the late morning hours, the storm was dumping 10cm of snow per hour so the snowdrifts were quick to build along with the 120+km/h wind gusts. One particular story that made the rounds on Facebook, Twitter, and other outlets was of a pregnant woman from Paradise who went into labour and travelled to the Health Sciences Centre in St. John’s via a snowmobile. For those that are unfamiliar with the area, it is an approximately 15-20km journey. In the middle of a historic blizzard. On a snowmobile. I think we speak for all Canadians when we say that is incredibly impressive!
Another story that was being shared was a little more dire. The St. John’s neighbourhood of The Battery, an area of steep slopes on Signal Hill, saw one home damaged due to an avalanche. This prompted local fire crews to go door-to-door to evacuate residents from the area. The last avalanche to hit The Battery occurred after another major snowstorm in 1959, which destroyed two homes and killed five people. Luckily, that was not the case this time.
Leading up to this storm, the current single-day snowfall record at St. John’s airport was 68.4cm from April 5th, 1999. This record was broken with the 11:30pm measurement of 69cm and the current record now stands at 76.2cm. Another record that was close to being broken was the wind gust record at Bonavista, where a 164km/h gust tied for the second highest recorded gust and only slightly behind the 169km/h record set in 1991. The snow from this storm also marks the first time that the St. John’s airport has measured more than 100cm on the ground since since January 7th, 2014.
Now that the snow has stopped, major cleanup operations have been underway for most of today. The Department of Transportation and Works estimates that some highways have snowdrifts that are 12 to 15 feet high! Thankfully, MP Seamus O'Regan and Sean Hanrahan of the St. John’s Port Authority received permission to temporarily dump snow into the St. John’s Harbour and Premier Dwight Ball has requested assistance from the Federal Government and the Canadian Armed Forces in regards to cleanup and relief.
Beyond the snow, many coastal communities saw local wharves and marinas damaged due to high winds and storm surges. Many households are still without power and they may be in the dark until Monday, as plenty of snow will need to be removed before utility crews can assess all of the damage to power lines and transformers.
Unfortunately, there is more snow on the way, with another 10-20cm expected across the province Sunday night. It certainly goes without saying that this storm will be one for the history books.
