Impactful winter storm continues across Newfoundland into Saturday
Beware the risk for near-whiteout conditions as a winter storm persists overnight into Saturday
Newfoundland is in the second half of a disruptive holiday storm train rolling through the region.
The first storm brought widespread heavy snow and very gusty winds to the island. Our next system will persist through the overnight hours and into Saturday, bringing additional heavy snowfall and reduced visibility.
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Second storm arrives with more snow, wind
A second, powerful low-pressure system moving into Newfoundland will cause renewed travel problems as it slowly traverses the island heading into Saturday.
This system is expected to retrograde, or backtrack, over Newfoundland, which will prolong the dangerous winter conditions for some communities.
However, the track of this system will bring in warmer air from the south, allowing a changeover to rain on the Avalon Peninsula, including in St. John’s. This slug of warm air will reach farther into central Newfoundland than we saw during the Christmas Day storm.
As a result, St. John’s is on track to see another 20-30 cm of snow, which will quickly begin to melt as temperatures rise and about 10 mm of rain falls.
Communities that manage to stay all snow for the duration of this second system could see an additional 20-40 cm of accumulation, with some areas along the northern coast possibly receiving more than 50 cm of fresh snowfall.
Strong wind gusts will accompany the heavy snow, severely limiting visibility at times. Drivers can expect near-impossible travel conditions overnight into early Saturday amid near-whiteout conditions and deep accumulations on local roads. Some power outages are also possible.
Header image courtesy of NOAA.
Stay with The Weather Network for all the latest on conditions across Newfoundland.