US Blizzard to Slam Nova Scotia, Atlantic Canada

By Evan Duffey, Meteorologist

January 26,2015; 11:07PM,EST

 

 

After a recent significant winter storm hit the region on Sunday, Atlantic Canada is on alert for the next round of disruptive snow to hit Tuesday.
Blizzardlike conditions occurred over the weekend across much of New Brunswick, eastern Quebec and Labrador, with portions of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland included as well.
Most of the region will have a small window to recover on Monday, before a storm rapidly strengthening off the northeastern United States coast pulls north into the region.

This storm will bring impacts to Nova Scotia as early as Tuesday morning, where a brief period of heavy snow and wind will be followed by a prolonged period of rain.
According to AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson, "Snow will likely change to a mix or even straight rain over central and southern Nova Scotia, but the heaviest precipitation will still be in the form of snow. Considering that the region hasn't seen much snow this season, the storm will be a significant one for the season."
A similar situation will come to Newfoundland Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday night. Here, an early burst of snow will move across the island before milder air leads to an icy mixture of sleet and freezing rain which will eventually change to rain.

Impacts will reach Labrador Tuesday night into Wednesday in the form of heavy, dry snow before tapering to flurries on Thursday as the storm continues north toward Greenland.
While the common denominator between the weekend storm and the early week storm will be heavy snowfall, there will be a key difference. The weekend storm intensified as it moved towards Atlantic Canada, allowing for intense winds typical of strengthening storms for the region.
Tuesday's storm, however, will have reached its strongest off the coast of New England, bringing a blizzard there. As it pulls north, the storm will weaken, resulting in no widespread damaging wind threat for Newfoundland and Labrador. The strongest winds will instead be farther south across Atlantic Canada.

According to Anderson, "The strongest winds with this storm will be focused in coastal Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, with gusts in the 80- to 90-km/h range."
This storm is expected to bring significant travel delays to the region, both ground and air. Strong winds and heavy snow in Nova Scotia may combine to bring widespread power outages for anyone with above-ground power transmission.
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Following the storm, Thursday and Friday will be a chilly but calm period for the region.
Unfortunately for area residents, yet another storm will threaten the region Friday night into the weekend, giving the region little respite.
Meteorologist Eric Leister contributed to this story.