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Groundhog Day Snowstorm

Lake Ontario - Feb. 02, 2011

Blizzard conditions in Hamilton and winter storm warnings across Southern Ontario.

The forecast called for 20-30CM of snow and 70 km/h winds for Toronto and even more than that for western Lake Ontario and the Niagara region. Entire school boards closed down, people stayed home from work and there was travel chaos at the airport. Even through the storm did hit hard, it didn't quite deliver the wallop that many were expecting but as far as I was concerned, it was quite photogenic.
 
The storm was however, bad enough to ruin my travel plans. I was scheduled to fly out to Burla, India today, where I had been invited to speak at a university there, but the flight was canceled, leaving me with not enough time to re-schedule the flight before the event I was supposed to be at was over.
 
It seems that I spend a lot of time wrestling with Mother Nature... And often, she wins.

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A brave jogger at Spencer-Smith park.

Thousands of chunks of floating ice undulating in the waves on Lake Ontario.

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Large waves crashing in Burlington.

An ice-encrusted warning sign with icicles.

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I don't think this railing is going to be very effective right now.

Yes, I was using the promenade.

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The spray off the lake encrusted everything along the shore in a thick coating of ice.

An ice sculpture in Spencer-Smith Park. These guys look right at home in the cold.

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Impressive waves on Lake Ontario.

A lighthouse at the end of a pier in Hamilton.

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The ladder on the lighthouse becomes an ice sculpture.

I met up with Mark Robinson from The Weather Network to document the storm.