Hazardous conditions are expected in parts of the Maritimes on Wednesday as a powerful nor’easter is predicted to sweep up from Maine through the region with powerful gusts and a messy mix of snow, ice pellets and rain.
READ MORE: Winter storm to bring snow, rain to Maritimes
The storm is predicted to bring heavy snowfall amounts of between 20 to 30 centimetres throughout New Brunswick beginning on Tuesday evening and carrying on overnight and through part of the day.
Lesser amounts of snow are expected in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, but the blasts of wind are still expected to reach up to 80 to 90 kilometres per hour.
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Environment Canada has noted that the rapid accumulation of snow is likely to make travel difficult in many locations, with visibility suddenly reducing to zero when wind speeds pick up.
The snow may change to rain over southern and eastern areas of the region on Wednesday morning, with a few hours of ice pellets or freezing rain likely during the precipitation changeover.
Jean-Marc Couturier, a forecaster with Environment Canada, said some coastal areas will receive 30 to 40 millimetres of rain.
READ MORE: New Brunswickers brave the cold during Atlantic blizzard
“It’s been very cold lately, so the ground surface is frozen and there will be a lot of run-off and some localized flooding,” he said. “It’s another problem we will face.”
The Halifax airport was showing multiple flight cancellations across its arrival and departure board for Tuesday night and into the early hours of the morning.
Couturier said it’s possible that another disturbance could hit southern parts of the Maritimes on the weekend, as winter continues to hang on through mid-March.
“We’re far from done,” he said.
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