Nova Scotia blizzard bringing heavy snow, strong winds

Environment Canada has issued a blizzard warning for almost all of Nova Scotia — Shelburne and Yarmouth counties are the only ones to have winter storm warnings in effect.

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The forecast led the Halifax Regional School Board to cancel all schools and offices for Tuesday.

Conseil scolair acadian provincial also tweeted that classes are cancelled at all CSAP schools Tuesday. 

​Intense winter weather in the form of snow, ice pellets and high winds will push far ahead of the centre of the system and will impact Nova Scotia through much of Tuesday, with some areas seeing snowfall on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Here's a timeline of what to expect through the blizzard:

Tuesday

2 a.m.: Light snow falling in Digby, Shelburne and Yarmouth counties. Northeast winds with gusts of 40 km/h to 60 km/h.

4 a.m.: Snow falling from Halifax to Kentville and western Nova Scotia. Northeast wind gusts of 60 km/h to 90 km/h for mainland Nova Scotia and northeast wind gusts of 40 km/h to 60 km/h for Cape Breton.

6 a.m.: Snow falling across mainland Nova Scotia, becoming heavy from Halifax to Kentville and west. Northeast wind gusts of 60 km/h to 90 km/h across the province.

8 a.m.: Snow falling across Cape Breton. Heavy snow and blowing snow across mainland Nova Scotia, with widespread white out conditions. Northeast wind gusts of 60 km/h to 80 km/h inland and 80 km/h to 100 km/h on the coast.

10 a.m.: Heavy snow and blowing snow across Nova Scotia. Digby, Shelburne and Yarmouth counties seeing ice pellets and freezing rain mix. White out conditions widespread. Northeast wind gusts of 60 km/h to 80 km/h inland, 80 km/h to 100 km/h on the coast. 

12 p.m.: Heavy snow and blowing snow across Nova Scotia. Areas on the Atlantic coast seeing ice pellets and freezing rain mix. White out conditions are still widespread. Winds are still northeast, with gusts of 60 km/h to 80 km/h inland, 80 km/h to 100 km/h on the coast.

2 p.m.: Snow, ice pellets and freezing rain across Nova Scotia. Heavy blowing snow continues for areas away from the Atlantic coastline. White out conditions are widespread with similar wind gusts as earlier.

4 p.m.: Snow, ice pellets, freezing rain and rain across Nova Scotia. The heavy blowing snow continues for Cumberland and Colchester counties, with white out conditions in isolated areas. Wind gusts will remain northeast at 60 km/h to 80 km/h, with local gusts of over 100 km/h in Inverness County.

6 p.m.: Periods of snow, ice pellets, freezing rain and rain across Nova Scotia. Isolated areas of white out conditions. Northeast wind gusts of 60 km/h to 80 km/h with local gusts of over 100 km/h in Inverness County.

8 p.m.: Periods of ice pellets, freezing rain and rain across Nova Scotia. Wind gusts remain northeast at 60 km/h to 80 km/h with local gusts of over 100 km/h in Inverness County.

10 p.m.: Periods of ice pellets, freezing rain and rain across Nova Scotia. Wind gusts remain northeast at 60 km/h to 80 km/h with local gusts of over 100 km/h in Inverness County.

Wednesday

12 a.m.: Periods of ice pellets, freezing rain and rain across Nova Scotia. Northeast wind gusts of 40 km/h to 60 km/h for much of the province, but local gusts to 80 km/h in Inverness County.

2 a.m.: Light periods of ice pellets, freezing rain and rain across Nova Scotia. North wind gusts of 40 km/h to 60 km/h.

4 a.m.: Light periods of ice pellets, freezing rain and rain across Nova Scotia. North wind gusts of 40 km/h to 60 km/h.

6 a.m.: Light periods of wet snow, ice pellets, freezing rain and rain across Nova Scotia. North wind gusts of 40 km/h to 60 km/h.

8 a.m.: Light periods of wet snow, ice pellets, freezing rain and rain across Nova Scotia. Northwest wind gusts of 30 km/h to 50 km/h.