Atlantic Canada, northeast U.S. gets hit with mixed bag of wintry weather

Environment Canada says an intense low pressure system will bring a mixed bag of weather to the Atlantic provinces this weekend.

The national weather forecaster says the system will track through the Bay of Fundy and into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence overnight Saturday.

Snowfall and winter storm warnings have been issued for much of New Brunswick, where about 25 centimetres of snow could fall by Sunday morning.

In Nova Scotia, up to 50 millimetres of rain is expected by Sunday morning.

Parts of Newfoundland will be blasted with heavy rainfall and high winds with gusts up to 110 km/h.

The Newfoundland and Labrador government is warning residents to be cautious around coastlines and waterways this weekend.

South of the border, parts of northeastern U.S. got their first real taste of winter Saturday as storms left a slushy, snowy coating from Pennsylvania to New England, but forecasters are watching a possible second shot of snow that could affect the region early in the work week.

By midday, the storm had dropped about 22 centimetres in parts of Pennsylvania and 20 centimetres in parts of New York, northern New Jersey and northwestern Connecticut, with widespread reports over 10 centimetres in inland areas across the southern New England region.

Another storm brewing

Lighter amounts were reported in Philadelphia, New York City and Boston.

The storm was expected to drop up to 20 centimetres in far eastern Maine before moving out late Saturday night.

Numerous accidents were reported on the slick roads but no major highway backups in the lighter weekend traffic. Police in Connecticut and Massachusetts were investigating the weather's role in traffic accidents that killed two people Saturday afternoon.

Rain and sleet mixed in with the snow in areas that saw above-freezing temperatures nearer to the coast, keeping totals down in those areas before the storm began to taper off.

Winds gusting to 80 km/h were expected on Cape Cod and nearby islands Saturday night as the storm moves away.

Another system beginning Sunday night into Monday is expected to drop couple of centimetres or more across Pennsylvania, with a potentially bigger one behind it late Monday.

"There is an increasing possibility of a significant storm late Monday night into Tuesday night," said U.S. National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Simpson in Taunton, Massachusetts, adding that there's still much uncertainty this far ahead. "It's how it evolves once it develops."

He said there is the potential that a storm moving up the East Coast could stall before it tracks out to sea, bringing high wind, heavy precipitation and the potential for coastal flooding.