High-powered storm brings power outages, school closures to Atlantic Canada
Freezing rain warnings and heavy rainfall persist for many parts of Atlantic Canada throughout Monday. The icy weather has prompted school closures and numerous power outages across the region.
As of Monday morning, many school boards across Newfoundland and New Brunswick have cancelled class due to the storm. Power outages have been reported across most Atlantic provinces with the largest outages reported in New Brunswick with about 11,000 customers reported without power in areas around Moncton. Over 6,000 were reported to be without power in parts of Nova Scotia as of Monday morning.
RELATED: Icy weather is inevitable. Here's what you need to prepare
Freezing rain and ice pellets battered many parts of the Maritimes throughout the weekend, with Halifax seeing 10 hours of persistent precipitation and Charlottetown seeing up to 12 hours of freezing rain off and on.
Freezing rain and ice pellets will continue to spread north across the Maritimes and northern Newfoundland through Monday, with the focus of ice across central and northern New Brunswick and the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland.
Central and northern New Brunswick should prepare for an extended period of ice through Monday, with 10-20 mm of icy precipitation expected. Power outages are likely to expand into northern regions of the province, so have devices charged and plan accordingly.
Travel will be dangerous across regions that see ice accretion from freezing rain so plan ahead and drive cautiously as it only takes a small layer of ice to make roads incredibly slippery.
The subtropical elements to the low pressure system have also brought milder than usual temperatures to the region, with a high of 13.9 C recorded at St. John’s International Airport Sunday morning, making Newfoundland warmer than most parts of the U.S.
Milder temperatures will be felt across the southern Maritimes and eastern Newfoundland Monday, with possible double-digit highs in some areas.
Heavy rain and even some embedded thunderstorms are possible across Nova Scotia as well. Moderate rain will continue for PEI and central and eastern Newfoundland today.
The freezing rain will continue to slide north into southern Labrador through Tuesday and Wednesday. Lingering rain showers and flurries on the back side of the low are forecast across the Atlantic provinces for Wednesday and Thursday.
The southern Maritimes and parts of Newfoundland could continue to see more active weather towards the end of the week, as a system slips across the southern parts of the region with a potential for a swath of snow.
WATCH: Atlantic Canada cleaning up after icy storm
Stay tuned to The Weather Network for the latest forecasts across Atlantic Canada.
