Blizzard leaves many Nova Scotia schools shut, dangerous roads
Some Nova Scotia students are enjoying their second snow day in a row, as cleanup crews mop up after a blizzard swept through the Maritimes on Wednesday.
The day-long storm dumped between 20 and 40 centimetres on Nova Scotia.
CBC meteorologist Peter Coade said cold temperatures and scattered flurries continue Thursday, with lows of -15 C.
Darrin Natolino, acting superintendent of winter works for the Halifax region, said road crews have a long day ahead of them.
Most of Nova Scotia’s roads are still snow-covered. Snow drifts are a problem in high winds and there are some slippery road conditions.
“With the type of blizzard conditions we had yesterday, often times we can make a cut through into a street and within a few hours you’d barely know that we were there,” Natolino said.
“I’d expect by the evening commute most people will go home to a nice, wide-open street and it will all be back to normal.”
Barb Bailey, the Department of Transportation’s executive director of maintenance, said most of the province’s highways are snow-packed.
She said westbound lanes of the Cobequid Pass were closed for four hours overnight.
“A couple of tractor-trailers got stuck,” she said. “The blowing snow was a problem last not, but other than that — businesses as usual.”
Schools are closed in the:
Strait Regional School Board
Cape Breton Victoria Regional School Board
Annapolis Valley Regional School Board
Chignecto Central School Board
South Shore Regional School Board
Tri County Regional School Board
Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincial in Clare, Argyle, Metro, Greenwood, Truro and Cookville
Centre Scholaire de la Rive Sud in Cookville
Sandy Lake Academy
Wagmatcook school
Ecole Beauport in Arichat
In Halifax, schools in the Duncan MacMillan, Eastern Shore District, Musquodoboit Rural and Sir John A. Macdonald families of schools are closed.
Brookside Junior High School and its feeder elementary schools — Atlantic Memorial, Terence Bay and Prospect Road Elementary — are also closed.
Most universities are open, but Dalhousie University's agriculture campus is closed for snow clearing.
Officials at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport warned that Thursday will be a catch up day. Most flights were grounded on Wednesday as blowing snow and high winds hit the region.
There are no power outages.
