Icy conditions on Newfoundland's west coast closes some schools for second day
For a second day in a row, some schools on the west coast of Newfoundland are closed due to icy weather conditions.
NL Schools is keeping schools closed in the Corner Brook and Humber Valley area for the morning, with an announcement later in the morning.
Meteorologist Dale Foote said the low pressure system that started a day ago is still hanging around, developing over the west coast before it moves across the island throughout Friday.
“And with that, we do have the winter storm warning still in effect for southeastern Labrador, the west coast, for [the] great Northern Peninsula and that's for today into tonight,” he told CBC Radio’s Newfoundland Morning Friday morning.
On the west coast, he said there will be some snow, freezing rain and ice pellets for the morning which will then transition into snow.
In contrast, Foote said the east coast of Newfoundland is seeing highs of 13 degrees.
Environment Canada has issued weather alerts for large swaths of Newfoundland and parts of Labrador, with yellow wind warnings for the Avalon Peninsula and the west coast.
There is an orange rainfall warning for Burgeo-Ramea and a yellow winter storm warning for Cartwright to Black Tickle.
Foote said there could be 100 mm of rain in Burgeo.
He said a new pressure system moving through later Friday will clear the skies.
Into the weekend, he said Saturday will be a sunny day with some snow developing in southwestern Newfoundland with a storm coming through.
“We have a special weather statement out for the next storm that's coming in Saturday and Sunday that looks to be just snow with a little bit of blowing snow. And it's for eastern and southeastern Newfoundland, to Bonavista, Terranova, Clareville,” said Foote.
He said it could bring 15 cm of snow.
Possible ferry disruptions, power disruption
Due to the strong winds, the province is warning ferry schedules, like the MV Legionnaire which services Bell Island - Portugal Cove, could be cancelled without notice. The alternate vessel that serves the same route, the MV Sound of Islay, has been cancelled due to the forecast.
Thousands of Newfoundland Power customers in parts of the Avalon Peninsula and the vicinity of the Southern Shore also woke up to no power.
According to its outages page, around 7 a.m. there were 4,023 customers without power but by 8 a.m. all power had been restored.
Admirals Academy and Upper Gullies Elementary in Conception Bay South had a delayed opening due to the power interruption.
Glenda Power says the power outage that started early Friday was due to an equipment failure. (Submitted by Glenda Power)
Glenda Power, Newfoundland Power's director of communications, said it has been a busy morning and the cause was a failure of a piece of equipment at the Kelligrews substation.
Residents have also reported hearing a large bang, which she said would have come from the equipment failure.
“We have a plan to get that repaired. But in the meantime, so we don’t keep customers without power unnecessarily, we’re bypassing the area of that damage so we can bring power back relatively quickly," said Power.
Power said the disruption isn't linked to the weather as far as they know.
This article was originally published by CBC News. With files from Newfoundland Morning and The St. John's Morning Show.