Toronto, Montreal tackle towering snow piles after back-to-back storms

People in the eastern half of Canada are digging out after another monster storm dumped huge amounts of snow for the second time in recent days, with parts of Quebec walloped the hardest.

Montreal and Laval reported about 40 centimetres of snow had dropped as of 1 a.m. ET Monday, with 35 centimetres accumulating in the Eastern Townships.

In Montreal, snow is expected to continue into Monday. Environment Canada has issued a blizzard warning for much of southern and central Quebec along the St. Lawrence as well as the Gaspé Peninsula.

Montreal's city spokesperson, Philippe Sabourin, said it'll take days before plows can clear 11,000 kilometres of streets. Crews will start by pushing the snow out of the way of traffic.

"We will come back to grab those piles of snow. For sure it's going to take weeks to complete the loading operation, so everyone will have to be patient," he said.

Many daycares, along with English- and French-language primary and high schools, in the Greater Montreal area are closed on Monday due to snow.

Police have been urging motorists to avoid non-essential travel. Sabourin advised people to work from home if they can on Monday because the province does not observe a public holiday like some other provinces.

Ontario is marking Family Day, so schools and many businesses are scheduled to remain closed and lighter traffic is expected.

Environment Canada had issued its winter storm warning for across southern Ontario and Quebec on Saturday.

By Sunday, the storm was bearing down on the two provinces for the second wintry strike since Thursday, when between 20 and 40 centimetres of snow or more fell, depending on the region.

"The situation has tempered down in southern Ontario, so at least there is some relief for those regions," said Jean-Philippe Begin, warning preparedness meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada.

"But about 25 centimetres or 25 to 30 centimetres fell in the Greater Toronto Area."

Similar conditions were felt in southeastern Ontario, with more than 30 centimetres of snow blanketing the Ottawa area. To the west of Toronto, Hamilton received 32 centimetres of snow, Environment Canada said.

Although Environment Canada lifted its storm warning for the Greater Toronto Area on Sunday night, the weather service said a snow squall warning remains in effect for communities along the Bruce Peninsula to the west and in the Georgian Bay area to the north, as 30 to 60 centimetres were expected to fall from Monday morning into Tuesday.