More snow, bitterly cold weather expected in the Maritimes this week

CTV Atlantic meteorologist Kalin Mitchell shares which parts of the Maritimes will see significant snow Wednesday afternoon through to Thursday morning.

While parts of the Maritimes have seen a decent amount of snow this month, Halifax is nearing a record for its least snowy January. A round of snow on Wednesday should prevent that record from being set, however.

In addition, bitterly cold temperatures are expected for the Maritimes the rest of the week.

Halifax snow records

It was nice to have a white Christmas in the Halifax area this year, but there hasn’t been that much snow since then; only 12 cm of snow was recorded at the airport between Jan. 1 and Jan. 28.

The 12 cm recorded at the airport would stand as the least snowy January on record at that site, if it weren’t for the snow expected on Wednesday.

While no snow reports are available from the Shearwater airport this January, volunteer observers close to the centres of Halifax and Dartmouth have reported only three-to-six cm; that would rank second on the records from Shearwater for the lowest amount of snow recorded in the month of January. Again, that rank is expected to fall after the snow expected on Wednesday.

Other parts of the Maritimes have seen a decent amount of snow this month. The Fredericton area in New Brunswick has reported 54 to 59 cm while Charlottetown has seen nearly 73 cm. An automated weather station at North Mountain in the Cape Breton Highlands has recorded about 95 cm of snow.

A special weather statement has been issued for parts of eastern Nova Scotia by Environment Canada. The statement calls for snow totals near 15 cm with higher amounts possible.

Wednesday snow

A low-pressure system exiting the northeastern U.S. will move along the Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia on Wednesday.

Snow will develop west-to-east across the region Wednesday morning into early Wednesday afternoon. The snow will be steady – even heavy at times – for Nova Scotia and eastern Prince Edward Island. The snow is expected to be lighter in New Brunswick and western Prince Edward Island.

Nova Scotia should expect snow amounts of 10-to-20 cm Wednesday through Thursday morning. Snow totals may be lower on the South Shore, with some mixing in of ice pellets and rain expected.

Charlottetown and east Prince Edward Island can expect 10-to-20 cm; Western Prince Edward Island about five-to-10 cm.

Parts of southern New Brunswick could pick up five-to-10 cm of snow. Much of the rest of New Brunswick will see totals of one-to-five cm in lighter snow and flurries.

An easterly wind becoming northeast is expected to accompany the snow. Gusts will peak at 30 to 60 km/h. While the wind won’t be particularly strong, it will be enough to blow the falling snow around, reducing visibility where it is steadier in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

Cold follows

Colder, polar-sourced air will move into the Maritimes Tuesday night and Wednesday.

Temperatures will fall a few-to-several degrees below late January averages. The colder conditions will linger into the weekend.

With the cold air in place and a second low expected to move out of the northeastern U.S., Monday will need to be watched for another more significant snowfall.