Icy late week storm threatens dangerous travel, outages over parts of East Coast

Winter is certainly making up for lost time across Atlantic Canada this month, as back-to-back storm systems continue to take aim at the region.

This week will be much the same, as forecasters keep a close eye on a late week storm set to bring snow, rain, and prolonged icy conditions.

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It looks like Newfoundland will once again bear the brunt of this one, with up to 10 hours of ice accretion possible into Friday. This will make for some difficult travel, with a heightened threat for power outages as well.

Thursday into Friday

The first signs of the storm begin along Nova Scotia’s south coastline Thursday afternoon, with a few centimetres of snow sticking around for the evening commute.

There is a risk however, that the snow misses the southwest, as the storm’s track continues to shift. As it stands now, this will help inch Halifax closer to totaling three times the snowfall an average February receives. In a typical February, the city usually records about 45 cm of snow, but this February has already seen 132 cm fall!

Higher impacts with this storm will be felt across Newfoundland once again, where forecasters are monitoring the risk for several hours of icing.

Cold air in place collides with the storm’s warm moisture by Thursday evening. Freezing rain begins in the southwest Avalon, spreading into St. John’s and the Burin Peninsula through the late evening and overnight hours.

Cold air holds on in central Newfoundland for the time being, including Gander, with 5-10+ cm of snowfall to start.

By Friday morning, the storm progresses swiftly through the island, forcing warmer air further inland. All precipitation types will inch northwest across the island. Snowfall is expected for the west, rainfall takes over the Avalon and Burin region, while a sliver of freezing rain continues in eastern sections south of Gander.

Winds will also pick up, gusting 50-70+km/h, especially in the southeast.

Through the event, regions may experience 5-10 hours of ice accretion, with localized power outages likely.

The storm appears to curl into the Avalon and Burin Peninsula. However, a slight shift in storm track will shift impacts as well, leaving some uncertainty in terms of exact totals and impacts at this time.

Be sure to check back for the latest updates across Atlantic Canada.