The storm that buried a city in nine hours

It began as a forecast footnote and ended as the heaviest overnight snowfall the region has logged this decade. By sunrise, side streets had vanished under drifts tall enough to hide parked cars.

Plow operators describe a night of impossible arithmetic: too much snow, too few machines and a road network that fills back in behind you as fast as you clear it.

A city that shrugged

What surprised officials was not the storm but the response. Neighbours dug out strangers' driveways, corner stores stayed open on generator power and a spontaneous shovel brigade cleared three blocks before breakfast.

Emergency services reported fewer incidents than expected, crediting an early travel advisory that actually worked. Schools closed, offices went remote and the roads were left to the crews.

By afternoon the sun was out and the snowbanks were taller than the mailboxes. The city looked, briefly, like a postcard nobody had time to photograph.