Sunday morning in Sydney looked more like February than the middle of April, as residents woke up to roughly 30 centimetres of snow, being blown about by howling winds.
Sunday morning in Sydney looked more like February than the middle of April, as residents woke up to roughly 30 centimetres of snow, being blown about by howling winds.
Cape Breton is just beginning to dig out from a mid-spring blizzard that walloped the region, giving people all the more reason to stay home.

Sunday morning in Sydney looked more like February than the middle of April, as residents woke up to roughly 30 centimetres of snow, being blown about by howling winds.

"I don't even know what to think," says Joseph Rudderham. "I figured we were all done with this, and I started parking trucks up, but now, I've got to bring them out again."


Rudderham runs a snow removal business in Sydney, and says he started Sunday morning with more than 30 calls.

"I'm going to be going flat out for the next 10-12 hours straight plowing," says Rudderham.

"This is God telling everyone to stay home, I think," says another resident.

At a time when people are being asked to stay put anyway because of COVID-19, the streets were even quieter Sunday. On the highway, visibility was nearly zero.

Some of the vehicles who were still on the roads were plows, many of which had recently been put away for the summer after the harshest winter in recent memory.

"For the winter we had, it's a pretty average storm for here," says Rudderham. "I didn't expect it, but it's good for me."

For others though, the winter weather was less than welcome.

While most places are closed anyway, some say that being snowed-in is only adding to the feeling of isolation many are already experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Others are having to shovel or start up the snowblower for what they hope be the last time, with May fast approaching.

"You just got to keep in mind that summer's coming, and the good weather's coming, and we'll get through it," says Rudderham.