Blizzard to blast Atlantic Canada into Wednesday night

By Renee Duff, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

January 13,2016; 10:54AM,EST

 

An Alberta Clipper storm will strengthen rapidly and unleash heavy snow and high winds across Atlantic Canada at midweek.
The storm will create dangerous travel conditions. Motorists venturing out in the storm will run the risk of getting stranded.

After depositing up to a foot (30 cm) of snow, the storm will exit northeastern Maine during Wednesday afternoon.
The heaviest snow will focus on parts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Anticosti Island and Newfoundland into Wednesday night.
The snow will then exit the area and shift into Labrador by Thursday morning.
The combination of snow and high winds will even set the stage for blizzard conditions across parts of New Brunswick, Quebec and Anticosti Island.
A large part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence region will be buried under 15-30 cm (6-12 inches) of snow, with locally higher amounts.
Snowfall rates up to 5 cm (2 inches) per hour are possible, with winds gusting upwards of 50 mph (80 km/h), especially along the coast.

The intensity of the snow combined with gusty winds will cause roads to become snow-covered quickly and will lower the visibility to near zero at times. High winds will also cause extensive blowing and drifting of snow.
The same storm system, albeit weaker at the time, brought widespread snow showers and locally heavier snow squalls to much of the Midwest and Northeast on Tuesday.
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The storm strengthened rapidly off the coast of Maine during Tuesday night.
Quiet weather will settle across the storm-affected areas to end the week, but there is the potential for more accumulating snow this weekend.
Content contributed by AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.