Risk of snow squalls in the Maritimes Thursday night into Friday

A cold front moves into the Maritimes on Thursday bringing flurries and possible snow squall conditions. Bitterly cold air follows behind.

As the nor’easter moves to the northeast of the Maritimes a cold front approaches from the west. The passage of the cold front on Thursday will be followed by the return of some bitterly cold early December temperatures. The cold air arriving over the ocean waters will bring a risk of snow squalls to parts of the Maritimes Thursday night into Friday.

Storm reports

The coastal storm resulted in a fairly widespread snowfall of five-to-15 cm across New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

In Nova Scotia the heaviest snow was dependent on elevation. Areas like the higher terrain around the Annapolis Valley, Cobequid Pass, Cumberland County and the Cape Breton Highlands reported the highest totals. One of the highest reports I received was from a viewer in Springhill, N.S., in which they estimated near 30 cm had come down.

Heavy rain on the Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia totaled between 20 and 50 mm for many communities. Coastal areas of Cape Breton County reported the strongest wind gusts. Personal weather stations at Gabarus, New Waterford and Florence all reported gusts at or above 90 km/h.

The mix of weather has left plenty of snowy, slushy and wet surfaces around the Maritimes. Temperatures will fall to and below freezing region wide Wednesday night. Watch for icy spots to develop.

Cold front brings risk of snow squalls

A cold front will cross the Maritimes west-to-east Thursday morning through afternoon.

The front will bring a mix of snow and rain along with it. Mostly lighter snow expected in New Brunswick with a risk of brief snow squall conditions. Snow amounts of trace to 5 cm expected.

Flurries in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island will mix with rain showers on Thursday afternoon. The rain switching back to snow Thursday evening.

A gusty and cold northwest wind will bring a risk of snow squalls to southwestern Nova Scotia off the Bay of Fundy, north shore of Nova Scotia off the Northumberland Strait and to eastern Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton off the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The risk of snow squalls for those areas will continue into Friday morning. Snow squalls are narrow bands of snow that can become intense for periods of time. Driving into a snow squall can often result in reduced visibility and snow-covered roads.

A Yellow Watch – Snow Squalls has been issued for Inverness and Victoria Counties. Thursday night into Friday intense snow squalls may develop. Visibility will be significantly reduced in the squalls and snow could amount to as much 15 to 25 cm.

Temperature plunge

The cold front will live up to its name.

The northwest wind behind the front will draw bitterly cold air out of Quebec and into the Maritimes. That air was sourced out of a piece of the polar vortex which has maintained a position over Hudson Bay. Low temperatures Thursday night into Friday will fall into the minus-teens for most of the Maritimes with some -20’s possible in northern and western New Brunswick.

The cold air will be accompanied by a northwest wind increasing to include gusts of 50 to 70 km/h. That means wind chill will be a factor by Friday morning. Expect to start the day with “feel like” temperatures in the minus-20’s for much of the Maritimes.

A Yellow Warning – Cold has been issued for northwestern New Brunswick. Wind chill values making it feel between -30 and -33 are expected Thursday overnight into Friday morning. Wind chills that make it feel -28 or colder come with an increased risk of frost bite to exposed skin in 30 minutes or less.

High temperatures on Friday will be several degrees below freezing for most of the Maritimes. The cold moderates slightly Saturday into Sunday followed by a fresh round of polar air arriving Sunday night into Monday.