As residents of Atlantic Canada dug out Wednesay from the fourth winter storm in a week, the man considered Canada's unofficial weather guru said it appears Mother Nature is repeatedly taking aim at the region.

"Every storm born in the United States or anywhere over North America, whether they be Alberta Clippers or Colorado Lows, Texas Depressions, or whatever, seem to leave the continent via Atlantic Canada," said David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada.

In Fredericton, snow piles are nearing the bottom of stop signs in some neighbourhoods.

"It's crazy," said Sebastien Godin as he shovelled a path to the street from his home. "It hasn't snowed like this in a long time."

The latest storm dumped at least 20 centimetres of snow over southern New Brunswick, northern Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, but high winds quickly sculpted massive snowdrifts almost 60 centimetres deep.

In the New Brunswick capital, Sarah Nicholson described the snowfall as beautiful, but said the amount was overwhelming. She was shovelling a driveway and attempting to throw the snow over large snowbanks on either side.

"The next snow - there's now where for it to go," she said.

According to Phillips, the city of Moncton, N.B., has received 165 centimetres of snow - that's more than four times the amount recorded at this time last year.

The city appeared to receive the worst of what the storm could dish out Wednesday. City hall was closed and buses were pulled off the roads as 35 centimetres of snow was whipped up by strong winds.

In Halifax, during the month of December, there were only five days in which the port city was free of any snowfall.

"By Jan. 1, you typically have only seen about 27 per cent of your annual snowfall, and to think, my gosh, we may still be in store for three-quarters of what might normally get," said Phillips. "That would probably drive people south."

In P.E.I., Summerside police Chief David Poirier urged motorists to stay off the roads.

"Cruisers are on standby in case they are needed for emergencies, with plows available to get them to their destinations."

On the Island's north shore, the winds were gusting at over 100 kilometres per hour.

A wind advisory was issued for the Confederation Bridge, which links P.E.I. with New Brunswick. The 13-kilometre span was temporarily closed to all high-sided vehicles in the afternoon as the storm tightened its icy grip.

The high winds and blowing snow forced police to close a section of the Trans-Canada Highway near the border between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

The low, flat area known as the Tantramar Marsh is notorious for hazardous driving conditions during winter storms.

"There have been some accidents on the New Brunswick side of the border and that coupled with poor driving conditions led us to close the highway," Const. Andrew Clarke of the Cumberland RCMP told the Amherst Daily News. "It's zero visibility out there. It seems to get worse the further west you go."

The weather was also horrible in Cape Breton.

"Driving conditions were treacherous with blowing snow causing poor visibility," Sgt. Gerald Marks of the Cape Breton Regional Police told the Cape Breton Post. "It has improved with the snow turning to rain".

The poor conditions forced the closure of some businesses, universities and colleges and kept flights grounded or delayed for much of the day in Moncton, Charlottetown, Halifax and St. John's, N.L.

As the storm descended on western Newfoundland, police reported a series of accidents in the Wreckhouse area - a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway notorious for high winds.

At least three tractor trailers and a number of smaller vehicles were stuck in drifting snow. And the Marine Atlantic ferry that links Newfoundland with Nova Scotia was to remain in Port aux Basques, N.L., until the weather cleared.

Meanwhile, residents of Central Canada were still cleaning up Wednesday in the wake of their New Year's Day encounter with the massive storm.

Ontario Provincial Police reported more than 300 accidents Tuesday. Most of the mishaps were single-vehicle accidents on slippery roads.

The city of Toronto remained under an extreme cold weather alert. The high temperature Wednesday was around -9 C, but with wind gusts up to 30 kilometres an hour, it felt more like -23 C.

An additional 70 emergency shelter spaces were opened in the city to keep more homeless people out of the cold.

Environment Canada forecaster Ella Ross said the cold is expected to stick around until the weekend, then rise to 10 C by next week.

So far Toronto has received 65 centimetres of snow, compared with just two centimetres at this time a year ago.

While the snow continued to fall in Eastern Canada, the West was enjoying more seasonable conditions.

In usually frigid Edmonton, the sun broke through the clouds as outdoor workers and children still off school enjoyed temperatures near zero.

Danica Muller, 10, visiting from British Columbia, zipped around a skating rink in front of city hall. Her friends said they were quite warm in the sun, although the weather was still a little nippy on the toes.

"It's good," said Muller, who had never before skated outside. "All we ever get on Vancouver Island is rain."

"The warm spell is part of a great winter so far," said Joe Harrietha as he chipped away snow from a fountain in front of the legislature grounds.

Harrietha, who often works outside, even joked that he might have to shed the thick coveralls usually integral to work in the city.

"We're dressed too warm for it today," he said.

Residents of Vancouver experienced drizzle and temperatures hovering around 4 C.

Phillips said Canadians from coast to coast can expect more nasty weather before spring.

"We're still a long way away from the dead of winter, or the halfway point of winter," he said. "There's still more winter ahead of us than behind us."