A half-metre of snow for some unlucky Maritimers in 1990

The snow started falling in the morning and then kept falling throughout the day.

And it didn't matter where you lived in the Maritimes, as that snow piled up indiscriminately across the region on Jan. 30, 1990.

"It dumped as much as 50 centimetres of snow in some areas, leaving the region almost completely shut down," the CBC's Peter Mansbridge told viewers on The National, when describing the storm that night.

One such place where the half-metre mark was met was Fredericton, where schools and government offices were shut down.

'Part of growing up in Canada'

"It's part of growing up in Canada," said one man, as slow-moving traffic rolled awkwardly through grooves in the snow-covered road.

But it wasn't just New Brunswickers who were dealing with Old Man Winter's mess.

In Prince Edward Island, the Charlottetown airport was shut down and ferry service was also cancelled for a bit. Powerful winds made driving dangerous on the island.

'I thought I was the only crazy one'

Those same storm winds wreaked havoc in Nova Scotia, causing power outages and damaging property. They also made a walk outside a challenge for pedestrians.

"I thought I was the only crazy one out," a man walking in Sydney, N.S., told a CBC camera operator, as he trudged along a snow-covered street.

The only good news for the Maritimes was, as reporter Kas Roussy said, the storm was supposed to be over by the following morning.