Early school closures as messy storm hits Atlantic Canada with ice, heavy snow
Winter warnings are widespread across Atlantic Canada as a moisture-packed system dumps heavy snow, ice and powerful winds across the region
Schools across Atlantic Canada weren't taking any chances, with widespread early closures announced Thursday morning, ahead of a messy and potent winter storm.
After hitting much of Ontario and Quebec with the heaviest snow totals of the season so far, the same system will sweep across the Maritimes and Newfoundland through Friday. A messy mix of heavy snow, ice, rain and strong coastal winds of more than 80 km/h will all jeopardize travel conditions.
PHOTOS: Major Ontario cities, GTA get a snow day as 20+ cm blankets region
This won't be the last of the stormy weather this week, either, as yet another system takes aim for the later part of this weekend. More heavy snow looks likely.
As always, be sure to keep up-to-date on your local weather alerts, and always check the highway conditions before heading out.
Schools close early Thursday as ice and heavy snow pick up
As of Thursday morning, snow had begun to spread across the western Maritimes.
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Snow will transition to ice and rain across the Fundy shores and Nova Scotia through the afternoon, with hours of slick conditions likely before temperatures climb above the freezing mark. This will have an impact on the afternoon and evening commute, with drivers urged to brace for the hazardous and icy road conditions.
"Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become icy and slippery. Utility outages may occur," said Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) in a freezing rain warning for the region.
Across central and northern New Brunswick, as well as western Newfoundland, heavy snow will fall, with impressive snowfall rates up to 4 cm/h possible at times. The rapidly accumulating snow could make travel extremely difficult into Friday.
"Be prepared to adjust your driving with changing road conditions," says ECCC in the snowfall warning.
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In all, between 15-30 cm of snow is forecast for central and northern New Brunswick and western Newfoundland, with much lesser amounts of 2-10 cm forecast for much of Nova Scotia. The exception will be Cape Breton Island, where 20-30 cm could fall. P.E.I. could see anywhere from 5-20 cm falling there.
Heavy snow will continue through Friday across Newfoundland, but with a transition to mixing and icy precipitation for the Avalon by Friday morning.
Power outage threat as winds ramp up
Wind gusts will ramp up through the day on Friday, and coastal gusts are forecast to reach or exceed 80+ km/h.
Sea-effect snow will continue in the wake of the storm for Cape Breton and western parts of Newfoundland.
Next storm follows in quickly for the weekend
There will be a brief pause from the snow and messy weather before yet another system moves into Atlantic Canada for Sunday and Monday.
Uncertainty in the forecast is still high, and the track will make a significant difference in overall snowfall totals.
This could be another big snowmaker though, so you'll want to continue to check back as the forecast is refined heading into the weekend.