The Eastern Canadian blizzard of March 1971 was a severe winter storm that struck portions of eastern Canada from March 3 to March 5, 1971. The storm was also nicknamed the "Storm of the Century" in Quebec. The event included the worst 24-hour snowfall on record in the city of Montreal with of snow falling on March 4, for a total of , until the one-day record was broken again on December 27, 2012. Higher terrain in eastern Quebec received as much as . Heavy snowfall was also recorded in eastern Ontario and northern New Brunswick as well as parts of the Northeastern United States. The storm itself was responsible for the deaths of 17 people in Montreal (30 province-wide) along with numerous other injuries directly and indirectly attributed to the blizzard. Blizzard event A coastal low-pressure system, called a Nor'easter, developed across the coastal United States late on March 3, 1971. The system rapidly intensified as it moved towards the Northeast United States as well as Quebec and eastern Ontario. The storm centre had a rapid pressure drop to while it was centred over New York before moving across New Brunswick exiting the province of Quebec during the morning of March 5. Snow started across most of the affected areas on March 3 with the peak of the storm during most of the day on March 4 where for a period of up to 17 hours there was at least moderate snow and blowing snow in Montreal. Visibility was also significantly reduced for nearly 24 hours. The received makes it one of the heaviest snowfalls on records for Montreal with the received on March 4 being the snowiest day on record. Elsewhere across Quebec, of snow fell in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve north of Quebec City while of snow fell locally in the Gaspésie, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Eastern Townships regions south of the Saint Lawrence River. Up to fell in the Ottawa and Quebec City regions. The heavy snow was accompanied by damaging wind gusts of near hurricane-force, which created snowdrifts of up to two stories high in some places. Widespread power outages were reported and some were left without power for up to ten days. The city of Montreal was left paralyzed following the storm for a few days. Bus service was stopped: snowmobiles and the Montreal Metro were the easiest transportation options possible throughout the city, while bridges