Canada is renown for its cold winter weather. The bone-chilling cold and blowing snow are things that most Canadians deal with for about six months of the year.   Blizzards are one of the worst types of winter storms. They carry cold artic air into a region and bring low temperatures, blowing wind, hail, freezing rain, and snow - sometimes more than a metre at a time.   Imagine a storm that could drop 100 millimetres of freezing rain and leave 700,000 people without power a month after it has left the area. The Ice Storm of 1998 that hit Eastern Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick did just that. It was one of the most devastating winter storms in Canadian history, knocking over 1,000 power transmission towers and 30,000 utility poles, leaving an estimated total of 1.4 million people in Quebec and 200,000 in Ontario without power. The destruction caused by winter storms can be massive. While hurricanes, floods, and high winds challenge our nation every year, winter storms are often the ones that cause the most damage. Follow the links to the left to learn more about winter storms.