Winter storm pummels Thunder Bay region
'Snow day' for students in Thunder Bay, Greenstone, Nipigon and down the north shore
CBC News
Posted: Nov 23, 2012 8:16 AM ET
Last Updated: Nov 23, 2012 4:09 PM ET
As Thunder Bay resident Khaley Fenn scraped off her car, she worried about being late for work on Friday morning after a winter storm descended on the region. (Jody Porter/CBC)
Travelers heading east of Nipigon Friday afternoon were out of luck as highways remained closed after a 'nasty' winter storm.
The east bound lane of Highway 17 was closed as of 2:30 p.m. from Nipigon to Schrieber, where the entire highway was closed from Schrieber to White River.
The east bound lane of Highway 11 was closed at Longlac. It's because both lanes of Highway 11 are closed at Hearst.
Highway 614 to Manitouwadge was also closed.
Tim Harper with Iron Range Bus Lines in Nipigon said it looked like an unpredictable winter storm from his window.
“There's blowing snow and poor visibility,” he said at about 7 a.m. “And before the snow last night we had a bout of freezing rain so it's quite nasty out there.”
Harper said it's hard to tell just how much snow is in the area because the snow is blowing it into drifts.
Snow plows, hydro crews busy
Plows are out clearing away the 10 cm of snow Environment Canada said fell in Thunder Bay. Geraldton got 13 cm overnight.
A spokesperson for Hydro One said nearly all of its customers have their power restored as of Friday afternoon.
Thunder Bay snow plow contractors were busy Friday morning clearing parking lots. (Jody Porter/CBC)About 2,300 households were without power earlier in the day because of the winter weather.
Bus cancellations, school closures
All school buses in Thunder Bay were cancelled Friday, as well as school buses to the east of the city.
All rural schools in the Lakehead Public School Board are closed, including Crestview, McKenzie, Five Mil, Nor’Wester View, Gorham & Ware, Valley Central, Kakabeka Fall, and Whitefish Valley.
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