A powerful low-pressure system aiming for Atlantic Canada will bring widespread damaging winds and heavy precipitation as it arrives through the end of the weekend.
The worst of this storm will focus on Newfoundland, with some hazardous conditions expected across parts of the Maritimes. Blizzard conditions are possible for some areas as the wind-whipped snow begins Saturday night and continues through Sunday night.
Prepare for potential power outages due to high winds and difficult to near-impossible travel as a result of the heavy snowfall.
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This rapidly deepening low-pressure system will likely qualify as a bomb cyclone, or a weather bomb, which means its minimum central pressure will drop at least 24 mb within 24 hours. This system’s swift intensification will make it produce heavier precipitation and stronger winds across the affected areas.
Snow will start overnight Saturday for southern and eastern Newfoundland, engulfing the island through Sunday morning. We’ll see snow quickly change over to rain for the Avalon Peninsula as warmer air surges ashore, which will keep snowfall accumulations relatively low here.
Folks around central and western Newfoundland will see snow continue through the day Sunday, with heavy precipitation rates expected. Milder temperatures may cause some mixing or plain ol’ rain to fall in portions of central Newfoundland.
Across the Gulf, snow will also fall throughout Prince Edward Island and the northern shores of Nova Scotia into the day Sunday.
Widespread gusty winds will pose a major hazard as this low sweeps through the region. 80-100 km/h wind gusts will move in overnight Saturday and peak into Sunday morning. Expect gusty conditions to persist into Sunday before finally easing by Sunday night. Some coastal sections of eastern Newfoundland could see gusts up to 115 km/h.
Power outages are likely as a result of the high winds blowing through the region. High waves are also expected on Sunday for the eastern and northern shores of Newfoundland.
“These large waves can cause coastal erosion in vulnerable areas, as well as damage to infrastructure along the shoreline, especially at locations that have been prone to impacts during similar events in the past,” Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) said in a coastal flooding warning for eastern Newfoundland.
We’re looking at widespread snowfall totals of 20-40 cm throughout central and western Newfoundland, with locally higher totals possible—especially along the Great Northern Peninsula.
Prince Edward Island can expect 5-15 cm of snow from this system, with the greatest totals across the northern and eastern portions of the island. 20-40 cm of snow is in the forecast for northern Cape Breton.
The Avalon Peninsula is generally on track to see less than 5 cm of snow before the changeover, with 20-40 mm of rain expected for the duration of the storm.
Though the storm will begin weakening late Sunday into Monday, expect blustery and unsettled conditions to linger across Atlantic Canada as this system stalls out into early next week.
Stay tuned to The Weather Network for the latest updates and warnings across Atlantic Canada.
