Winter storm will bring snow, ice pellets to Nova Scotia on Sunday

Plans to hit the stores for Boxing Day sales and holiday travel may be disrupted by a winter storm that is moving into the Maritimes.

Environment Canada has issued a snowfall warning for the Annapolis Valley, Halifax County West and Lunenburg County beginning Sunday morning.

The first flakes will begin to fall near 8 a.m. in Cumberland County and the Annapolis Valley.

This is a fast-moving system so the snow will have filled in across the province by noon.

The snow will be steadiest late morning and afternoon. Lighter snow and flurries are expected to persist through Sunday evening, with general accumulation of 10 to 20 cm in the province.

Temperatures will hover between 0 and -2 degrees.

Halifax road crews were out on Saturday afternoon applying brine and salt to roads, the city said.

Ice pellets, rain for southwest

Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne and Queens counties in the extreme southwest of Nova Scotia will see snow early Sunday but it will be mixed heavily with ice pellets and even rain as the day goes on. Amounts in this part of the province will vary from two to 10 cm. The lower amounts will be along the coastline where a quicker turn to rain is anticipated.

Cape Breton is looking at five to 10 centimetres of snow beginning late in the morning with temperatures in the -1 C to -4 C range. 

Winds won't be overly strong with this system. However, some gusts from the east and northeast between 30 and 50 km/h will get the snow blowing around as it falls. Visibility could come down to near or below a kilometre at times.

Airlines issue travel alerts

Air Canada and WestJet have issued travel alerts for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island in anticipation of the storm. 

Travellers can expect their flights to be delayed or cancelled, the airlines say. Passengers are permitted to change their flights with no penalty for both airlines, they say. 

Everyone is advised to check their flights before heading to the airport. 

Nova Scotia Power said Saturday it is monitoring the storm, and crews are ready to respond across the province.

The good news is strong winds aren't expected for Sunday, so likely won't be a problem. The bad news is the heavy, wet snow typically sticks to trees and could bring down branches on electrical wires.

That's where NSP expects to focus its attention once the storm hits.

The trough of low pressure will also bring winter storm conditions to Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, which will also see snowfall amounts of 10 to 20 cm, Environment Canada said.