Schools in two Atlantic provinces were closed Thursday after a snowstorm blew across Nova Scotia overnight before hitting Newfoundland.
Snowfall and winter storm warnings remained in effect Thursday for Cape Breton in Nova Scotia and most of the island of Newfoundland. Environment Canada advisory maps showed only Newfoundland’s western coast and parts of the Great Northern Peninsula were expected to avoid the day’s dump of snow.
The storm prompted flight cancellations at the Halifax airport. By about 9 a.m. the Halifax area was digging out from up to 38 centimetres of snow, Jim Abraham, president of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, wrote on Twitter.
In St. John’s, N.L., the federal weather agency was calling for a day of snow, followed by rain and then more snow.
Jay Dunn, dispatch manager with Jiffy Cabs in St. John’s, insisted his drivers weren’t fazed by the forecast – it is typical winter weather in St. John’s, after all, he said.
As the snow abated and the streets grew slushy Thursday afternoon, Dunn said he was trying to stay positive: “This is all of it, and we’re gonna have a nice easy winter,” he cracked.
Up to 30 centimetres of snow is expected by midnight in St. John’s and along the province’s east coast, where gusts could reach up to 140 kilometres per hour.
And up to 45 centimetres of snow is expected west of the Avalon Peninsula, with lesser amounts in the forecast for central Newfoundland.
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