Messy weekend storm brings ice, snow to New Brunswick

A winter storm left New Brunswick residents wondering when spring is really coming.

“I wish it hadn’t been so icy, you know, nice, fluffy snow would have been better,” Fredericton resident Christina Stonehouse said.

The storm began with snow on the afternoon of March 23 before it turned to rain overnight in parts of New Brunswick.

By the morning of March 24, layers of ice covered the ground, trees and cars in Fredericton. Stonehouse said her son got home late and didn’t have time to knock the slush off his car. By the morning, it was ice.

“It was frozen pretty solid, I had to go at it with a steel chisel to break it off, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to turn the tires at all,” she said.

Posts on 511 New Brunswick’s X account show the storm left a dozen roads partially or completely covered with snow, with two others damaged by floods.

And thousands of people woke up without power. As of 9:49 a.m. on March 24, 4,754 customers had no power. By 5:17 pm on the same day, NB Power restored service to 4,307 customers, leaving just 447 without power.

Ron Russell lives in Tamarack Estates in Fredericton.

“Overnight we lost power a little bit before four in the morning,” he said. At the time of speaking, he still didn’t have power.

But he said the storm wasn’t too bad — with some inconveniences.

“Got up this morning and we had to take an hour to clean off vehicles,” he said.

Fredericton resident Mark Brey said the ice added another step to clearing his driveway with a snow blower.

“It only works when you chop it into pieces, or you’ll damage your auger,” he said.

He was willing to speculate about when spring will be back.

“Probably about Wednesday. Then it’s going to be winter again on probably Saturday,” he said.

Russell had a less precise estimate.

“That’s a tough question, isn’t it. Hopefully soon,” he said.