During this busy Christmas travel period, traffic at Lester B. Pearson International Airport often peaks at 84 aircraft landings or takeoffs per hour. However, the storm virtually shut down Canada's busiest airport as flights were grounded. Although safety was an issue, de-icing capability and lack of passengers and crew had an equally profound effect. Nearby hotels were full, roads were closed by blowing and accumulated snow, and thousands of travellers spent days in the airport waiting out the storm. The blizzard drove the city's snow removal bill for the month up to a whopping 38 million dollars.
Winter weather can create unexpected problems.
Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, has passed a bylaw preventing people from leaving keys in the ignition of a running car. The cold weather tempted people to leave their cars running during short stops - but the practice was also tempting to thieves, who helped themselves to 35 such vehicles in a single week in January 1998. Some people simply refuse to back down to cold weather. In central Newfoundland, a man was spotted standing on a ladder trying to shovel out his buried car after a blizzard deposited 38 centimetres of snow on March 9, 1988. The storm left 53 centimetres of snow in 30 hours, with as many as 500 tractor-trailers marooned on Highway 401 with snow up to the tops of their cabs.