Major East Coast storm puts travel in peril with 40 cm of snow possible
A nor'easter scraping south of Atlantic Canada is spreading a heavy swath of snow across parts of Nova Scotia and eastern Newfoundland through Tuesday.
Winter isn't going anywhere anytime soon, especially in Atlantic Canada. In fact, the season is ramping up and ready to deliver one of its most impactful storms for major centres such as Halifax, N.S., and St. John's, N.L. Snowfall, winter storm and blowing snow warnings are in place. Through Wednesday morning, some areas could see 20-40 cm of snow.
Travel on Tuesday is expected to be hazardous due to reduced visibility. Consider postponing non-essential travel until conditions improve.
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Heavy Snow will continue through Monday overnight for Nova Scotia and will ease early Tuesday morning. However, flurries and strong northerly winds Tuesday morning may give areas of blowing snow and poor visibilities during the commute.
By that time most of the southern Nova Scotia shorelines will see 20-30 cm of snow, with 10-20 cm for central areas.
Across the Gulf, the nor'easter continues to move northeast into Newfoundland with some of the heaviest snow occurring from pre-dawn Tuesday through the afternoon. Widespread snowfall amounts of 20-40 cm are expected for the Avalon, Burin and Connaigre peninsulas. 30-40 cm is expected in St. John's and 15-25 cm is forecast for Gander.
The Avalon Peninsula has the highest chance to see a change to ice pellets or a mixture of freezing rain and rain by Tuesday afternoon, and that's increasingly likely for southern areas. The rain is most likely to occur along extreme southern coastal areas, with freezing rain and ice pellets farther inland.
Precipitation will change back to snow later Tuesday evening and will once again combine with strong, northerly winds to cause poor visibility in blowing snow.
In addition to the snow, gusty coastal winds are forecast for Nova Scotia. Winds will blow snow around but won't create zero visibility as they will only reach upwards to 50 km/h for most of Nova Scotia, and upwards to 60 km/h for Cape Breton.
On top of the heavy snow in Newfoundland, sustained winds will be 40-50 km/h, creating whiteout and even blizzard conditions. Wind gusts will reach 70-90 km/h. Blowing snow and whiteouts will significantly impact travel conditions.
"Consider postponing non-essential travel until conditions improve," says Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) in the winter storm warning for the region. "Visibility will be suddenly reduced to near zero at times in heavy snow and blowing snow."
Conditions on the island will improve on Wednesday morning as snow tapers off and winds begin to diminish.
Be sure to continue to check back for the latest forecasts for Atlantic Canada.