The Early December 2007 North American winter storm was a major winter storm which affected the majority of the United States and portions of southern Canada from November 29 to December 5, hitting the Intermountain West and Midwestern United States, the Great Lakes region and the Northeast. The storm brought significant snows to portions of the Upper Midwest, Great Plains and Great Lakes regions of the United States and Canada on December 1 with a major winter storm for Quebec, Ontario and parts of the Northeast region on December 2 and 3 as well as the Canadian Maritimes on December 4 and 5. The system was also responsible for a major ice storm across the Midwestern states which caused disruptions to several major cities including Des Moines, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee and Toronto. The storm was blamed for at least 16 deaths across nine US states and one Canadian province. 10 traffic deaths had been reported, as of 2 December 2007. Meteorological synopsis A low-pressure system developed across the southwestern United States on November 30 and brought significant rainfall for portions of the Desert Southwest as well as portions of southern California from Los Angeles to the Mexico border, where destructive fires took place in October 2007 near San Diego and Los Angeles. The rain band then moved across the Rockies and formed a Colorado Low just southeast of Denver on the early hours of December 1. Most of the northern half of the country was under a dome of very cold air which was triggered by a weak Alberta clipper and associated front that crossed the continent prior to the storm and which brought significant lake-effect snows across the Great Lakes on November 29 and 30. The newly formed storm then moved across the central parts of North America from Colorado to the Great Lakes bringing significant snows from the Dakotas to northern Ontario as well as in the mountain regions of New Mexico and Colorado. The storm was expected to strengthen as it approached the Atlantic Coast on December 3 and affected New England, Quebec, eastern Ontario and the Canadian Maritimes with a major winter storm, primarily snow, with some mixing in the southernmost areas. On December 5, the storm departed Newfoundland and Labrador, an area that was previously hit with a powerful storm which caused extensive power outages. After the passage of the storm, more cold air was