'Relentless' spring snowstorm closes schools, businesses in Thunder Bay and northwestern Ontario

Persistent winter weather in Thunder Bay led early closures of all schools in the northwestern Ontario city and kept many businesses from opening their doors.

A snowstorm that first started on Tuesday continued more than 24 hours later. A snowfall warning issued by Environment Canada finally ended late Wednesday afternoon.

The Lakehead District and Thunder Bay Catholic District school boards dismissed students early on Wednesday. Lakehead University also closed its Thunder Bay campus early in the afternoon. School buses had been cancelled for the entire day and a number of rural schools were closed for the day.

Environment Canada meteorologist Gerald Cheng described the snowfall as "relentless."

"Spring can still bring a lot of snowfall, as evident in the last 24 hours," he said, adding one report indicated as much as 40 centimetres had fallen by early Wednesday morning and another measure of snow depth showed an increase of more than 30 centimetres.

"This is quite significant because according to the normal snowfall for March — for the entire month — we should get 26.8 cm, so this one shot has surpassed the monthly snowfall for March."

While many businesses and facilities were closed, not everyone spent the snow day at home. In the face of less than ideal road conditions, at least one Thunder Bay resident got creative with his travel plans. 

Conor Doyle, a teacher in the city, had woken up early in the morning with the intention of shovelling his way out to be able to drive to work.

Facing conditions worse than he expected, those plans changed.

"I knew I wasn't going to get there in my normal time, and then I had the idea that I had snowshoes in my closet. I hadn't used them in almost two years," Doyle said. "It was almost a pick me up, that it was going to be fun."

"I'm really lucky. I'm maybe a 15-minute walk. I put all my stuff in a different bag to keep it dry, brought my coffee and strapped on my snowshoes."

Doyle said he had to only venture halfway to his destination, before a colleague who was driving stopped and picked him up, but he intended to trek back home on snowshoes.

Thunder Bay city officials said curbside garbage and recycling pickup won't happen on Wednesday, with collection rescheduled for Saturday. The city's Grace Remus, Ogden, and Algoma child care centres were closed for the day, though the Woodcrest centre is open.

The city also closed the Canada Games Complex, Volunteer Pool, the Water Garden Pavilion, 55 Plus Centre, and the West Arthur Community Centre.