Southern Ontario hit with 1st major snow storm of the year

People in southern Ontario were being hit with a blast of snow Saturday, a system which is expected to arrive in Quebec in the evening and Eastern Canada on Sunday — while people in Western Canada were bracing for extreme cold or heavy rain, with freezing rain expected in some areas.

Driving conditions in communities in the Niagara Region and eastward to Toronto were already becoming treacherous before noon.

A multi-vehicle crash closed all westbound lanes of the Queen Elizabeth Expressway at the Erin Mills Parkway exit in Mississauga.

A winter storm warning has been issued for southern Ontario, including Toronto.

The city could get hit with up to 15 centimetres of snow, Environment Canada said. Meanwhile 25 centimetres was forecast to fall west of Toronto in Hamilton, Ont., and the Niagara Region by Saturday night.

The system is tracking northwest from Massachusetts, Maine and New York state, pushing easterly winds along Lake Ontario and creating a "lake enhancement," CBC meteorologist Janine Baijnath said.

The system will head into the Maritimes on Sunday and could dump 20 to 30 centimetres of snow in some areas.

A winter storm warning has also been issued for the Montreal area. Environment Canada said people in the region can expect 15 to 30 centimetres of snow, beginning Saturday evening.

The storm will also bring blowing snow. Before it arrives, Montrealers can expect temperatures to feel like -33 C with wind chill values, before temperatures warm up a bit.

To the west, freezing rain warnings were in effect in and around Edmonton. A mix of rain and about five centimetres of snow was expected to create potentially dangerous driving conditions.

Windchill warnings were in effect for the northern portions of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Temperatures throughout the day could feel like -40 C with the wind chill in those regions. Early Saturday, the windchill made it feel closer to -50 C.

Heading south to areas including Pincher Creek, Alta., the forecast called for strong winds gusting to about 100 km/h, Baijnath said.

"We're looking at rainfall warnings for the north coast of B.C. as well as inland, and you will see about 60 millimetres of rain by the time the system from the Pacific tracks through, so it'll be a very wet day for Vancouver and Victoria.