PEI

Ice rafting possible on North Shore as strong winds blow

Environment Canada is advising ice rafting is possible on P.E.I.'s North Shore as strong winds continue to blow across the Island.

Conditions particularly bad in West Prince

The snow is heavy and sticky in Summerside, says Marg Chisholm-Ramsay, who tweeted this picture. (Marg Chisholm-Ramsay/Twitter)

Environment Canada is advising ice rafting is possible on P.E.I.'s North Shore as strong winds continue to blow across the Island. 

Ice rafting can push large pieces of ice onto shore, damaging structures and property.

In a special weather statement, Environment Canada says the greatest risk is where the shore faces east, on the western end of the North Shore.

School Closures

Schools in western and central P.E.I. are closed Wednesday as a windy storm strikes the Island.

The Kinkora, Kensington, Three Oaks and Westisle families of schools are closed. Other schools in the Public Schools Branch are on a one-hour delay. In the French Language School Board the Evangeline family of schools is closed, with the remainder on a one-hour delay.

Holland College campuses in Summerside and Alberton are closed for the day. Campuses in Charlottetown and Georgetown are delaying opening until 10:30 a.m.

Provincial government offices in Prince County are delaying opening until 10:30 a.m.

Plow dispatchers describe the conditions in West Prince as terrible, with heavy snowfall and blowing snow. In other parts of the county, roads remain snow-covered with visibility fair to poor.

In Queens County, roads are snow-covered west of Hunter River, and getting cleared to the east. Roads are slushy in parts of Kings County.

Power outages restored

Maritime Electric reports at one point overnight it had 6,100 customers without power, but that was reduced to two before 6 a.m.

The first two morning flights out of Charlottetown Airport were cancelled. Confederation Bridge was open to all traffic at 6:30 a.m., but advised high winds could lead to restrictions through to about 10 a.m.

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