A blast of winter weather had Montrealers shovelling heavy, wet snow Tuesday.

Temperatures hovered around the freezing mark most of the day, with light snow turning to rain by early afternoon and drizzle throughout the evening.

By 6 p.m. ET about 11 centimetres of snow had fallen at Pierre Trudeau airport.

Road conditions lead to accidents

The morning snowfall caused several accidents throughout the province.

A streetlight was knocked down during a crash involving four cars near Boucherville on Montreal's South Shore.

One person sustained minor injuries, and traffic was backed up for several kilometres on Highway 30.

In Montreal, a large truck jack knifed on Highway 25 near the toll bridge around 8:30 a.m. Two of the three lanes were closed.

Motorists urged to park off streets

In Montreal, snow-clearing equipment was out in force early in the day.

Neighbours helped neighbours to dig out and push out each others' vehicles.

Some complained about the large piles of snow left behind by earlier visits of snow-clearing trucks.

"It creates, like, a buttress between you and the street, and it's an added obstacle when getting your car out," said Anthony Kahn.

"That's why we ask for Montrealers to cooperate with us as much as possible," explained City of Montreal spokesman Jacques-Alain Lavallée. "Respect whatever signs are put up."

"Every time we have to tow a car, it slows down our operation by 10 minutes," he said.

Lavallée's suggestion is that motorists get their cars off the street during a big snowfall and leave them in a parking lot.

"That would help us out tremendously, and that would speed up also the process," he said.

Montreal could see up to 15 centimetres of snow before the end of the day Tuesday. (CBC)