Snowstorms slam parts of Canada

A woman makes her way through a park during a snowstorm expected to dump as much as 35 centimetres of snow on Montreal. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)The first storm of winter is blowing through parts of Ontario and Quebec, while people in the Maritimes are bracing for another winter blast.

Toronto's first significant snowfall of the season dropped as much as 10 centimetres Tuesday night, but by Wednesday morning warmer temperatures and rain had turned much of the snow to slush and puddles.

The snow clogged road traffic, disrupted transit service and delayed several flights at Pearson International Airport.

In Ottawa, CBC climatologist Ian Black and Environment Canada were predicting 15 centimetres of snow starting Wednesday morning and changing to rain in the evening.

"If they're forecasting 30, I'll take 50," said Peter Suderman, owner of Camp Fortune ski hill in Gatineau Park.

"We'll refer to it as pennies from heaven and it really helps kick-start the season."

Montreal is also dealing with wintry weather — some schools were closed, flights have been delayed, and experts are predicting a dump of up to 35 centimetres by day's end.

Officials in Montreal said more than 1,000 pieces of equipment were out clearing snow across the city, and the machines will stay out all night if necessary.

Snow, wind warnings in Maritimes

Halifax Regional Municipality trucks are loaded with salt before they begin salting the streets. (CBC) In parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, winter weather warnings forced health officials to cancel several H1N1 clinics.

Environment Canada issued snowfall warnings for parts of New Brunswick and wind warnings for Nova Scotia on Wednesday.

Prince Edward Island is forecast to get up to 10 centimetres of snow and ice pellets at night before turning to rain.

Gordon Hayward, the superintendent of winter operations for Halifax, said trucks loaded with salt have been preparing streets around the municipality.

"You're playing with the forecast but prepared to adjust as weather conditions change," he said.

Western Canada shivers

Meanwhile, people on the Prairies are bundling up against frigid weather. In Winnipeg, temperatures were hovering around –20 C as an arctic chill descended on Manitoba.

Saskatchewan is also in a deep freeze, with temperatures as low as –24 C in Regina. Homeless shelters in the city took in extra people to keep them warm, and firefighters doused some fire hydrants with hot water to keep them from freezing.

In Saskatoon, the temperature was around –23 C, and garbage service was delayed because the hydraulics on the trucks froze.

After a week of –20 weather in Alberta, temperatures inched up to around –11 C in Calgary on Wednesday.

The chill has given a boost to many Calgary businesses, as consumers are rushing in to buy winter items like shovels, snow blowers and space heaters.

At one Calgary Canadian Tire store, chilled customers have bought 500 space heaters over the last few days.

In Vancouver, it was –3 C, but the winter weather farther east delayed airline flights from Ontario.