Winter storm causes cancellations across northeastern Nova Scotia

A winter storm in northeastern Nova Scotia led to a slew of closures and power outages Tuesday.

CBC meteorologist Tina Simpkin said up to 40 centimetres of snow was expected to fall over Cape Breton.

By afternoon, the snow had changed to rain. Up to 40 millimetres of rain could fall in Cape Breton, causing the possibility of flooding, according to Environment Canada.

Winds were expected to gust up to 100 kilometres per hour in eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, reducing visibility due to blowing snow.

Cape Breton Regional Police did not have to contend with any major accidents as a result of the storm. But Insp. Bill Turner said there were several minor ones.

He said driving was difficult as the moisture-laden snow became compacted on the roads, in some places leaving icy ruts.

"I can honestly say I've never seen the Sydney-Glace Bay highway as bad as it was today," Turner said. "We're probably lucky there weren't more accidents."

With the temperature expected to drop overnight, Turner said anyone who doesn't need to go out should just stay home.

Those needing to get out need to slow down and leave more time for braking, he said.

The following schools were closed:

• All schools in the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education.
• All schools in the Strait Regional Centre for Education.
• NSCC's Marconi, Pictou and Strait campuses, and Wagmatcook Learning Centre.
• St. Francis Xavier University (exams scheduled for today will be rescheduled to next month).
• Cape Breton University (exams scheduled for today will now be on Dec. 20).

Transit Cape Breton was not operating due to poor road conditions.

Ferries to and from Sydney, N.S., on Marine Atlantic were cancelled for the day.

The following municipal entities were closed:

• Cape Breton Regional Municipality's city hall.
• Richmond County's municipal office.
• The Town of Port Hawkesbury's municipal office.
• Inverness County's office in Port Hood.
• Antigonish town hall.

As of 2:40 p.m., there were over 23,000 Nova Scotia Power customers without electricity. Most of the outages are in the eastern part of the mainland and Cape Breton.