Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are digging out Monday from a massive snowstorm that’s forecast to bring up to 35 cm of snow by Tuesday morning.
Schools, universities, businesses, government buildings and municipal services were shut down — some announcing the closures ahead of the overnight storm.
Environment Canada has a yellow-coloured snowfall warning in effect for all of Nova Scotia that states 25 to 35 cm of snow is expected, with locally higher amounts possible. The snow should intensify again by Monday evening.
“It will come in waves,” said Global News meteorologist Ross Hull in reference to the snowfall.
“It could ease a little bit later this morning, then another return as we move through this afternoon and this evening. Gusts could be a little higher around the south shores, so that’s why there’s a winter storm warning.”
“We’re not done with the snow likely even through the overnight (…) It finally clears by tomorrow night and we are still left with cold conditions. So the snow is not going anywhere. It’s not going to be melting anytime soon.”
As well, the forecast calls for 50 km/h maximum wind gusts, except 70 km/h along the Atlantic coast.
“Roads and walkways will likely be difficult to navigate due to accumulating snow. Prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions,” Environment Canada says in its warning.
Intense cold with wind chills in the -20s over the weekend led to outages in some areas and prompted Nova Scotia Power to ask customers to conserve energy.
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Southern New Brunswick is also under a yellow-coloured snowfall warning with 20 to 25 cm possible.
“Snow is expected to ease off slightly this morning before intensifying again tonight. Strong winds gusting up to 50 km/h today will give reduced visibilities in blowing snow over open and exposed areas,” that warning states.
Tim O’Reilly, the publics work director for the City of Saint John, said it’s been a difficult storm to clean up.
“It’s definitely among the most challenging storms we’ve had so far this year and up there in terms of last couple years for sure,” he said.
“Salt doesn’t work on anything below -10 C so the temperatures that we’re having, we’ve had to switch over to a salt and sand mix to provide that traction.”
Closures and cancellations
Nova Scotia provincial government offices were closed, including the courthouses. In a statement, the province said “decisions regarding court operations are made on a case-by-case basis with the judiciary” and advised people to check with their lawyer or contact the courthouse to confirm statuses.
In Halifax, residents were asked to avoid all non-essential travel while clean-up efforts were underway Monday.
The municipal parking ban is being enforced until 6 a.m. Tuesday. Halifax Regional Police said it issued 507 winter parking ban tickets on Sunday night and 11 vehicles were seized under the Motor Vehicle Act for impeding snow removal.
Municipal offices, recreation facilities and the public gardens were closed Monday.
Meanwhile, Halifax Transit buses were travelling on snow routes.
The municipality also said that its After-Hours Individualized Mobile Engagement team (AIM) visited people who are currently homeless to speak to them about shelter options and to help with transportation.
“The AIM team will continue to engage with people as needed in the coming days,” the municipality said in a news release.
Airports in the region, including Halifax Stanfield International Airport, were reporting cancellations and delays and advising passengers to confirm flight status with airlines before heading to the airport.
“Our crews are in place and working hard to clear the taxiways, runways, aprons. So as soon as they are safe and ready to return to regular operations, we’ll be ready for that to happen,” said Jessica Kinney, spokesperson for the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
Some of the delays are a result of the massive snowstorm in Ontario, caused by the same system that dumped around 50 cm of snow in some regions.
“There are many cancellation and delays across the board, and that of course influenced by the winter storm we’re experiencing across the region,” said Kinney.
“Because we are part of an international network, any airports that we’re connected to, the weather that’s going on in those cities of course would potentially impact people’s flight plans.”
Toronto Pearson International Airport cancelled or delayed hundreds of domestic and international flights. Flight-tracking site FlightAware said more than 500 flights were cancelled at the airport Sunday.
Aviation analytics firm Cirium says roughly 300 more flights across the country had been called off as of 9 a.m., affecting tens of thousands of travellers.
— with files from The Canadian Press and Global News’ Reeti Meenakshi Rohilla, and Kendra Gannon.
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