Extreme cold then heavy snow in Le Bic, Quebec Province

The polar vortex hit Quebec Province and our little town of Le Bic on Saturday, 19 January with a daytime high of about -12F. Sunday wasn't quite as cold, but with winds gusting to 20-30 mph, and 5-6 inches of new snow, conditions were still quite harsh. Our neighbors advised us to stay home, suggesting that if we drove somewhere, we might not be able to get back. We're glad we took their advice - by late in the day, the road conditions were dicey and relatively few cars (and trucks) were on the road. 

The big snow storm came Sunday night, dropping about a foot of new snow with blizzard-like conditions and large snow drifts. Woody, our beloved 4-legged friend, had trouble getting around in the deep snow. I had to clear a path before he found a site to his liking to do his business.
Because of the snow, Parts of Hwy 132, the main road up the Gaspe Peninsula, were closed by early Monday morning, including the section from Riviere-du-Loup east towards Gaspe. It was eerie to look out our window at the empty highway.
We've spent portions of several summers here in Quebec Province, but never in winter. We came up this January because we wanted to experience the winter season. The extreme cold followed by heavy snow these last couple of days was described by CBC Radio this evening as an epic storm. We're grateful for having had the opportunity to experience this extreme weather event during our 4-5 week stay in Le Bic this winter.

Snow drift along back deck of our house 

The view out our back door

Drifts around our car

Snow drift between our car and the road...we've got some shoveling to do.

Snow drift at base of our shed

Drifts along the outbuildings in our landscape. From near-to-far, we have a storage building, two  garden sheds, and in the  far distance, a chicken coup.

View of our outbuildings from upstairs bedroom 

View out our window of snow-covered hay fields and scattered buildings

Snow plow coming down our street the morning after the big storm

A nearby outbuilding with large snow drift

Another view of the outbuilding shown directly above.

A nearby farm house with snow plow

Our neighbor lent us this handy tool for clearing out snow from driveway

Small road heading into the town of Le Bic

It's nice having a hearty breakfast on a cold morning. Thanks to Lisa, we're eating French toast with  homemade  blueberry yogurt on top of one slice, locally sourced maple syrup on the other slice, and an egg and banana. Delicious!