Maritime snow update heading into Wednesday evening and night

CTV Meteorologist Kalin Mitchell has updates on the Snowfall Warning issued in the Maritimes and when conditions could worsen for those areas expecting the most

An Alberta Clipper will continue to bring snow into parts of the Maritimes Wednesday evening and night. Snow will be lingering for Prince Edward Island and eastern Nova Scotia into Thursday morning.

How things change Wednesday evening

Through the day on Wednesday, snow was mostly falling at a light-to-moderate rate in the Maritimes. Temperatures near freezing have kept the snow more compact and even allowed it to melt on some surfaces such as treated or heavily used roads. I did receive reports of some roads in the region becoming snow-covered and slippery.

Falling temperatures in the evening will allow for snow to start accumulating even on those surfaces that managed to remain mostly wet through the day. This is especially true for the parts of the Maritimes that are expected to see an increase in snowfall rate Wednesday evening and night. That includes parts of the Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia, the eastern half of Nova Scotia, and eastern P.E.I.

A band of heavy snow that could fall at a rate of near 2 cm per hour is expected to reach the coastal areas from Halifax extending into Guysborough County by near 6 p.m. That band of heavier snow will then move in to cover eastern Nova Scotia, eastern P.E.I., and Cape Breton by midnight. The higher snow rate will allow for surfaces to become more quickly covered and visibility will be reduced. Some of the tougher driving conditions are expected to develop Wednesday evening and night for eastern Nova Scotia and eastern P.E.I.

Wednesday overnight and Thursday morning

The band of heavy snow begins to exit northeast very early Thursday morning. Eastern Nova Scotia and eastern P.E.I. should expect a snowy start to Thursday morning. The remainder of the Maritimes will have a chance of flurries.

The remaining steady snow will clear eastern parts of the region by noon on Thursday. A northerly wind will return a chance of flurries with a risk of snow squalls to eastern P.E.I., the north shore of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton late Thursday afternoon through Thursday night.

It’s possible that parts of Inverness County in Cape Breton pick up some snow amounts of 15 cm or more Thursday evening through night, in the event snow squalls develop off the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The wind direction will be favourable to develop those squalls in the area between Isle-de-la-Madeleine and Inverness County.