Snow, wind warnings in Maritimes

Winter weather warnings for parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have caused health officials in both provinces to cancel several H1N1 vaccination clinics.

In New Brunswick, clinics in the Fredericton and Woodstock areas — including those scheduled for Cambridge-Narrows, Fredericton Junction, Keswick Ridge, Oromocto, Nackawic and Perth-Andover — have been cancelled.

In Nova Scotia, two swine flu vaccination clinics scheduled at Halifax-area high schools were cancelled — Charles P. Allen High School in Bedford and Dartmouth High School in Dartmouth.

A spokesperson for the Capital District Health Authority said clinics scheduled for Thursday will go ahead as planned.

Environment Canada issued snowfall warnings for parts of New Brunswick and wind warnings for Nova Scotia on Wednesday.

Southwestern New Brunswick may see as much as 20 to 30 centimetres of snow before the end of the day. The precipitation could change to freezing rain overnight.

While snowfall amounts are forecast to be much lower in Nova Scotia — up between five and 10 centimetres — winds are expected to gust from 60 to 100 kilometres an hour overnight.

Prince Edward Island is forecast to get up to 10 centimetres of snow and ice pellets on Wednesday night before turning to rain.

Gordon Hayward, the superintendent of winter operations for Halifax, said trucks loaded with salt have been preparing streets around the municipality.

"You're playing with the forecast but prepared to adjust as weather conditions change," he said.

While the winter parking ban in Halifax is not yet in effect, Hayward said parked vehicles may be ticketed and towed if they are obstructing snow removal vehicles.

"We'll be doing a cleanup through the night, it is going to change to rain but the rain won't take the snow away that quickly."