Weekend snow preludes powerful nor'easter across Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is facing down a double whammy of snowy systems in the coming days.
After a midweek snowstorm buried parts of eastern Newfoundland, including St. John's, forecasters are looking at a double whammy of systems that will impact Atlantic Canada over the weekend and into next week.
Folks across the Maritime provinces and parts of Newfoundland can expect to see some dangerous travel conditions from heavy snowfall and strong winds causing whiteout conditions throughout the coming days. Be sure to stay up-to-date on the forecast and current conditions when making any plans.
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Sea-effect snow to bring hefty totals over the weekend
The weekend will kick off with a low-pressure system forecast to clip southern Nova Scotia on Saturday morning. An area of high pressure over Quebec will serve to keep the system away from the rest of the Maritimes, but it will also guide the system up to Newfoundland's south coast, where it will collide with a lingering trough north of the province Saturday night.
Whiteout conditions are forecast across the Avalon Peninsula during the overnight Saturday and into Sunday afternoon, with wind gusts reaching up to 80 km/h and snowfall totals ranging from 10-20 cm. Along the north coast, snowfall totals will be a bit higher thanks to the trough ushering in heavy sea-effect snow, with 15-25 cm forecast.
The same trough over northern Newfoundland that the low-pressure system will collide with is also forecast to sink south Saturday evening, bringing sea-effect snow squalls to Prince Edward Island (PEI) and northern Nova Scotia through the evening and into Sunday morning. Some areas could see 10-15+ cm of snow from these squalls.
Forecasters looking at a developing nor'easter to kick off Monday
A strong nor'easter is developing off the United States East Coast and could reach the Maritime provinces by Monday afternoon. The rapidly strengthening storm is also forecast to reach 'weather bomb' status upon its approach.
Heavy, wet snow will begin across Nova Scotia on Monday afternoon, reaching PEI by the evening, with snowfall rates of 2-3 cm/h and wind gusts over 40-60 km/h.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has already issued special weather statements for all of Nova Scotia and western PEI ahead of this storm.
"The exact track of the system is uncertain, but the potential exists for significant snowfall," ECCC says in their statement. "Plan ahead in case schools or scheduled activities are cancelled. Make sure snow removal equipment (e.g., shovels or blowers) and supplies are prepared in advance."
"Additionally, higher than normal water levels are expected along the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia at high tide Monday night," the agency adds in their statement for Nova Scotia.
In addition to rapidly accumulating snow, we could see conditions vary between whiteout and full-on blizzard through Monday evening, bringing dangerous travel to the evening commute.
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As the storm leaves the Maritimes Tuesday morning, it will track straight across Newfoundland. As the storm continues to bring 15-20 cm of snow and whiteout conditions, folks could see widespread school and bus cancellations Tuesday morning.
The snow is forecast to transition over to rain across the Avalon into Tuesday afternoon, bringing the risk of localized flooding as the rain eats away at the snowpack formed from the recent storms to move through the peninsula.
However, if the storm ends up tracking further offshore than currently predicted, we could see additional heavy snow over the Avalon rather than the transition to rain. Forecasters will continue to watch for this over the coming days.
Stay with The Weather Network for more information and updates on your forecast across Atlantic Canada.