Kalin Mitchell says more snow on the way
Kalin Mitchell | CBC News | Posted: February 24, 2015 6:28 PM | Last Updated: February 25, 2015
Snow is expected to mix with or turn to rain Wednesday afternoon
The sudden return of the very cold air triggered some "frost or ice quakes" in Nova Scotia, also known as cryoseisms.
It's a relatively easy phenomenon to explain.
Essentially, areas of the ground that are saturated with water (likely a result of the rain on Sunday) freeze suddenly.
The expanding ice puts stress and pressure on its surroundings which can crack or break giving us the loud bangs heard last night.
Very similar to what happens if you've ever left a bottle of "pop" out on a very cold night.
A quick tally of the coldest spots in the Maritimes this morning include:
Edmundston, N.B. at -30.1 C
Harrington AAFC/Charlottetown at -23.7 C
Debert, N.S. at -24.6
Of course when factoring in the winds it felt (wind chill) close if not into the -30's to start the day.
With the cold air in place and a system moving up from Cape Cod tomorrow we can expect snow in the Maritimes for Wednesday.
Here are a few province-by-province notes on the snow:
New Brunswick
There may be a few flurries near the border of New Brunswick and Maine tonight but the steadier snow won't arrive until tomorrow morning.
The current timing has the snow beginning in the southwest corner of New Brunswick (the area bordered by St. Stephen, Saint John, and Grand Manan) as early at six to 8 a.m.
From there the snow will reach Woodstock, Fredericton, and Moncton between eight and 10 a.m.
The rest of New Brunswick will be into the snow by or before noon. This is a quick hitter so the snow should ease to bands of flurries by 5 pm with the flurries clearing through the evening.
General snowfall amounts will range 10 to 15 cm. Edmundston and the northwest corner will see lower totals of five to 10 c.m.
Additionally Bathurst, the Acadian Peninsula, and down to Miramichi could see as much as 15 to 25 cm and Environment Canada has issued a winter storm watch for these areas.
Wind gusts in the range of 40 to 60 km/h are expected to accompany the system and this may lead to periods of white out visibility.
Prince Edward Island
The leading edge of the snow will cross the Northumberland Strait between eight and 10 a.m.
It will continue into the afternoon when it may mix with some ice pellets.
The snow/pellet mix will ease to flurries near or shortly after 5 pm with the flurries tapering off through the evening. General snowfall amounts across PEI are expected to be in the range of 8 to 15 cm with the highest amounts most likely in Prince County.
Some wind gusts in the range of 50 to 70 km/h are expected to accompany this system so blowing snow creating white out conditions is a concern.
Nova Scotia
The snow begins in Yarmouth, Digby, and Shelburne Counties between four and 6 a.m.
It reaches a line from Kentville to Halifax by 7 a.m. and is across the mainland by 10 a.m.
From 10 a.m. to noon it will move into and across Cape Breton.
The snow is expected to mix with or turn to rain in the afternoon all up and down the Atlantic coastline of the province.
There, five to 10 cm of snow followed by five to 10 mm of rain can be expected. Others in the province will see some mixing in of ice pellets with the snow but accumulations as high as 10 to 15 cm.
Wind gusts of 40 to 70 km/h will accompany the system and some periods of poor visibility in the snow will result. Once the pellets/rain mix in the visibility should improve.
Since this is a daytime event for the Maritimes and beginning in the morning best to plan on slower and slippery commutes on Wednesday.
While not as cold as last night or this morning below normal temperatures will follow this system for the rest of the week.