New Year's Eve storm brings messy conditions across the province

Much of New Brunswick is ringing in the new year and the new decade with a fresh blanket of snow.

In Fredericton, heavy snow was expected to change to ice pellets around 10 p.m. before switching to flurries for the first few hours of the new year. Rain was forecast to start in Saint John around 9 p.m. and continue until 6 a.m. Wednesday.

In Moncton, snow was expected to switch to rain around 12 a.m. before turning sunny with a chance of flurries around 8 a.m.

Snow will continue falling overnight in northern areas of the province like Campbellton and Bathurst.

Snow totals in northern, central and western parts of the province tonight and into Wednesday will range from 15 tro 30 centimetres, according to Environment Canada.

Most of the province has been under a snowfall warning Tuesday.

CBC meteorologist Jim Abraham said this could make travelling difficult on New Year's Eve. 

• Check out the latest closures at CBC New's Brunswick Storm Centre 

"The snow will gradually change to rain or perhaps freezing rain and ice pellets over much of southern New Brunswick overnight tonight and then it'll end by tomorrow morning and by [late] morning in northern New Brunswick," said Abraham.

Grand Lake and Queens County, Kent County and St. Stephen are under a snowfall warning. Initially, Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for those areas.

Environment Canada has also issued a special weather statement for southeastern parts of the province. Those areas include: 

• Moncton
• Fundy National Park
• Saint John and county
• Sussex, Kennebecasis Valley and Kings County

Those areas could see between five and 15 cm of snow or between 2 and 15 mm of rain Tuesday night.

Road conditions

Officials, including the New Brunswick RCMP, the Saint John Police and the Fredericton Police, are warning motorists to slow down as snow continues to fall and visibility decreases.

Felicia Murphy, a spokesperson for SNC-Lavalin, the company that maintains the Trans-Canada Highway between Longs Creek and the Quebec border, said the roads are mostly snow-covered. 

"There's also some icy patches out there as well, mostly as you go toward the north," Murphy said. "More snow is coming down so plows are out and we're working on it."

As the system changes to rain this evening, freezing rain could make roads slippery. Murphy is also advising motorists to slow down.

"Snow means slow, so take your time," she said. "Give yourself some distance between vehicles to get to where you're going, instead of trying to do it fast."

George Youssef, president of Checker Cab in Fredericton, said the slippery road conditions will likely mean delays in pickup times.

"It makes it harder for us to pick up passengers a little quicker and get them home safely," Youssef said. 

9 flights cancelled

Poor weather conditions also caused several flight cancellations in three major cities Tuesday afternoon.

Three flights departing from the Fredericton International Airport were cancelled. Three flights leaving the Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport and three planes flying out of the Saint John Airport were also cancelled.

Flights affected were heading to Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and Ottawa.

Warmer temperatures coming

Easterly winds are expected to travel up to 25 km/h throughout the day, Abraham said. 

Meanwhile, temperatures will rise to between 0 C and 4 C overnight as snow changes to rain along the Fundy Coast. By morning, the temperature is expected to fall to just below 0 C.

Abraham said surfaces could become a lot more slippery following freezing rain or ice pellets by tonight. 

"If you are going out this evening, stay at the hotel or with friends or whatever you're planning," he said. "Bring some overnight gear just in case you don't want to drive home."