Thousands without power in Nova Scotia due to high winds

Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers were in the dark Saturday morning after wind gusts reaching over 100 km/h hit the province overnight.

As of 10 a.m. Saturday, 592 outages were affecting 41,000 Nova Scotia Power customers. According to the power utility’s outage map, the largest outages appeared to be in the southwest areas of the province.

The estimated restoration times for the majority of the outages is 11 p.m. Saturday.

READ MORE: Icy conditions force closure of all public schools in Nova Scotia on Friday

In a statement to Global News Friday, Nova Scotia Power spokesperson Andrea Anderson said an additional 35 crews were positioned strategically province-wide “to manage any emergency calls and major outages until 6 a.m., when the full complement of crews starts back up for the day.”

“This strategy ensures we are taking advantage of as many daylight hours as possible for safe, efficient response,” Anderson stated.

0:30 Winter storm creates slippery conditions in Nova Scotia

Public schools across Nova Scotia were forced to close on Friday due to overnight freezing rain. A number of university campuses and government offices were either forced to close or delay opening, as well.

According to Environment Canada, 15 to 30 millimetres of rain hit the Atlantic coast overnight Thursday.

0:28 Vehicles, trees left coated in ice after winter storm hits Nova Scotia

Halifax’s overnight parking ban was put in place as a result, but has since been lifted. Even so, the Halifax Regional Municipality is reminding residents they can still be ticketed or towed if they get in the way of snow removal.

The freezing rain caused several delays and cancellations at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport on Friday. The airport is asking passengers to continue to check their flight status prior to leaving for the airport.

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New Brunswick has only been dealing with a handful of power outages. According to the NP Power outage map, there were nearly 400 outages impacting the northeastern Neguac area in northeastern New Brunswick.

1:42 Northern NB takes brunt of winter storm

Saturday’s weather forecast for Halifax is calling for a 60 per cent chance of flurries and a high of -3.

READ MORE: Atlantic provinces prepare for nasty weather as Environment Canada issues warnings