Ugly mix of rain, snow, freezing rain closes schools in parts of Atlantic Canada

Heavy rain and strong winds were expected in much of Atlantic Canada today, prompting school closures and snarling travel.

Environment Canada was forecasting a messy grab bag of weather that included rain, freezing rain, snow and intense winds.

It says a low pressure system over the Great Lakes will intensify as it passes over Nova Scotia, with winds gusting to 90 kilometres an hour and possibly damaging buildings and trees.

It’s expected to dump up to 40 millimetres of rain in Nova Scotia, while significant rain and strong winds were forecast for P.E.I. and Newfoundland, where up to 35 mm of rain was expected by Friday.

Schools were closed throughout New Brunswick due to widespread concerns over prolonged periods of snow, freezing rain, rain and winds that could gust to 80 km/h.

People are being cautioned about possible flooding and encouraged to postpone non-essential travel until conditions improve.

Some scattered power outages were being reported in southern New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.