It was five years ago today that a vicious winter storm would dump 90 cm of snow on the metro region, on top of the already 100 cm on the ground and whipped up by hurricane-force winds.
The resulting snowfall blocked roads and forced the capital city to declare an eight-day State of Emergency as crews worked to clear major arteries. Roads and businesses were closed for days and long lineups formed when some corner stores and groceries finally opened to start selling essentials.
(Photo courtesy JTFA | FOIA via Twitter.)
The shut down had a strange calming effect. Once the weather cleared people started to venture outside, with snowboarders, sleds and and snowmobiles taking to city streets, and winter block parties formed in some neighbourhoods as people came together to help dig each other out.
Although there was no way to know it at the time, the event that came to be known as #Snowmageddon turned out to be a strange harbinger of the COVID public health emergency and lockdowns just a few weeks away.
