Poor driving conditions, closures as storm lingers over eastern Quebec

Winter storm warnings remain in effect Wednesday in parts of eastern Quebec, with snow and wind leading to road and ferry closures east of Quebec City and poor driving conditions in much of the southern part of the province.

The storm is still hitting Quebec City and regions further east on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. There are multiple school closures there.

Warnings have been lifted for Montreal and the Eastern Townships, though light snow continues to fall.

Environment Canada says a total of 40 to 60 centimetres of snow are expected in parts of the Gaspé region, with winds reaching 90 kilometres per hour near the coast. Quebec City will get up to 35 centimetres before the storm ends, with high winds also expected.

Those winds could also cause storm surges along the south shore of the river for much of eastern Quebec.

The highway that runs east of Quebec City, south of the St. Lawrence River, is nearly all closed to traffic. Harsh weather conditions have shut down Highways 20 and 132 from Lévis to Grande-Vallée in the Gaspé region. Several other secondary roads are also closed, including Highway 232 out of Rimouski.

The closures, some of which began Tuesday afternoon, forced many motorists to find accommodation in Lévis. Many hotels were full overnight, a rarity in the pandemic era.

The Quebec ferry service is warning people to be ready for delays and cancellations because of the weather. Passages are "uncertain" for the ferries that run between Quebec City and Lévis, and between Tadoussac and Baie-Sainte-Catherine. All trips between Matane and the North Shore have been cancelled for the day.

In the Eastern Townships and the Montreal area Transports Quebec is warning that road conditions could deterioriate because of blowing snow.

In Saint-Hyacinthe, about 50 kilometres east of Montreal, four transport trucks went off the road on Highway 20 westbound Wednesday morning.