Town of Collingwood, Ontario, Canada

The snowsquall warnings were posted, and Georgian Bay delivered. The southern Georgian Bay region was belted with ongoing snowsquall activity triggered by brisk northerly winds blowing over the warmer, open waters of Georgian Bay. Some regions received in excess of 50cm of snow. Squall activity differed from location to location, but the Collingwood-Wasaga Beach-Stayner region was hit with ongoing snowsqualls over a three day period, causing dangerous driving conditions along highway 26 and county road 124. Blue Mountain Resort's web site reported that they had received 75cm of snow over the past few days. The snow guns have been turned on and Blue Mountain will open soon to launch a new ski and boarding season.

This is all good news for a town that depends on winter tourism to boost the local economy, especially when the snow falls before Christmas. Michael Christie of Christie's Clothing said that all of the snow on the ground has put customers in the Christmas Spirit. "It gets people in the holiday mood" he added. Downtown Collingwood BIA Manager Sue Nicholson said that the first snow gets people thinking about Christmas shopping. "We need that first snow ... and we have an abundant supply this year" Nicholson said. "All of this fresh snow has made our downtown look wonderful" she added. An early start to the Christmas shopping season and an early jump on the winter tourism season helps boost the local economy, and this is especially good news to Collingwood merchants this year in light of all of the economic issues that have hit us here at home and throughout the world.

The BIA works with the town and with a private company to stay on top of snow removal to provide ease of movement for shoppings throughout the downtown. Town crews have been working around-the-clock to clear sidewalks and roadways. "We do live in snow country so we certainly know how to deal with major snowfalls" Nicholson said.