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Storm brings winter mix of snow, rain to New Brunswick

CBC
Updated

All of New Brunswick remains under weather warnings from Environment Canada as a nor'easter delivers snow, rain, freezing rain and ice pellets to the province.The northern part of the province is under a winter storm warning while rainfall warnings are in place for the southern half of the province.At 10:30 a.m., approximately 11,000 of NB Power customers were without electricity. Within two hours, that number had been reduced to about 7,500.The Woodstock area has the most extensive outages with 6,310 homes and businesses affected at 12:30 p.m.The Fredericton area was dealing with 783 outages while Miramichi had 268.Peter Coade, a CBC meteorologist, said northern New Brunswick can expect snow — heavy at times — on Wednesday, with windy conditions.The snow will become mixed with ice pellets or freezing rain on occasion.Northwest New Brunswick can expect from 10 to 15 additional centimetres of snow today while the northeast could see another 15 to 25 centimetres.By the time the storm ends overnight, Coade says the north could see 30 to 40 centimetres of snow.- On mobile? Check CBC Storm Centre for cancellationsCoade said the Fredericton area and the southern part of the province can expect another 20 to 30 millimetres of rain, with windy conditions, drizzle and fog.Southern New Brunswick could see as much as another 30 to 50 millimetres of rain today and possibly another 50 overnight, said Coade."We're going to have about two or three months worth of rain for a normal December on this one day. We're going to see more rain overnight tonight than what we're going to see today," Coade said."There is more coming. Temperatures will continue to rise and the rain-snow line is going to continue moving north."Windy conditions, drizzle and fog are also expected.Road conditions vary from wet to snow-coveredThe New Brunswick Department of Transportation was forced to close Wheeler Boulevard at West Main Street in Moncton due to flooding. It has since reopened.RCMP believe weather and road conditions may have been a factor in a head-on collision between a car and tractor-trailer on Route 8 outside of Fredericton shortly after midnight that killed three people.The RCMP were cautioning that heavy rain could make water pool on the roads and motorists should slow down to avoid hydro-planing.Road conditions in the northwest Wednesday morning were reported as snow covered, with icy patches, drifting snow and slushy patches.Felicia Murphy of Brun-Way, which operates and maintains the Trans-Canada Highway from Longs Creek to the Quebec border, said the highway was seeing a mixed bag of weather."Honestly, we're getting a mix of everything right now," indicating heavy rain was falling in the Long's Creek to Woodstock stretch."The roads are reported to be partly snow covered in these areas with slushy spots," she said."There are some areas with water buildup that we're going to working on as well today to remove."Murphy said travellers should use caution and to be wary of hydro-planing on water-covered roads."We do have different areas of the highway with significantly different road conditions. From the Quebec border to Grand Falls, they're actually experiencing a full-on snow event right now."Icy patches are reported in some areas of central and western New Brunswick.​Ross Mathers of Maritime Road Development Corp., which maintains the Trans-Canada from Longs Creek to Moncton, said conditions are mainly bare, but the passing lane is icy in some places.Mathers said it has been a busy fall for storms and MRDC has already used 1,000 tons of salt, or 10 times more than usual for this time of year."We normally get eight or nine centimetres of snow all November. We are over 55 centimetres," said Mathers. "We normally get one minor snowstorm. We've had, I think, two to three majors and a couple of minors. So it was a very taxing month, November, and it looks like December is the same way."Most schools in province closed WednesdayAnglophone West, Anglophone North and Francophone North-West school districts closed schools for the day Wednesday.Francophone South School district closed all of its schools except those in Saint John and Quispamsis.Anglophone South schools are open but buses are running one hour late. All of New Brunswick remains under weather warnings from Environment Canada as a nor'easter delivers snow, rain, freezing rain and ice pellets to the province. The northern part of the province is under a winter storm warning while rainfall warnings are in place for the southern half of the province. At 10:30 a.m., approximately 11,000 of NB Power customers were without electricity. Within two hours, that number had been reduced to about 7,500. The Woodstock area has the most extensive outages with 6,310 homes and businesses affected at 12:30 p.m. The Fredericton area was dealing with 783 outages while Miramichi had 268. Peter Coade, a CBC meteorologist, said northern New Brunswick can expect snow — heavy at times — on Wednesday, with windy conditions. The snow will become mixed with ice pellets or freezing rain on occasion. Northwest New Brunswick can expect from 10 to 15 additional centimetres of snow today while the northeast could see another 15 to 25 centimetres. By the time the storm ends overnight, Coade says the north could see 30 to 40 centimetres of snow. - On mobile? Check CBC Storm Centre for cancellations Coade said the Fredericton area and the southern part of the province can expect another 20 to 30 millimetres of rain, with windy conditions, drizzle and fog. Southern New Brunswick could see as much as another 30 to 50 millimetres of rain today and possibly another 50 overnight, said Coade. "We're going to have about two or three months worth of rain for a normal December on this one day. We're going to see more rain overnight tonight than what we're going to see today," Coade said. "There is more coming. Temperatures will continue to rise and the rain-snow line is going to continue moving north." Windy conditions, drizzle and fog are also expected. Road conditions vary from wet to snow-covered The New Brunswick Department of Transportation was forced to close Wheeler Boulevard at West Main Street in Moncton due to flooding. It has since reopened. RCMP believe weather and road conditions may have been a factor in a head-on collision between a car and tractor-trailer on Route 8 outside of Fredericton shortly after midnight that killed three people. The RCMP were cautioning that heavy rain could make water pool on the roads and motorists should slow down to avoid hydro-planing. Road conditions in the northwest Wednesday morning were reported as snow covered, with icy patches, drifting snow and slushy patches. Felicia Murphy of Brun-Way, which operates and maintains the Trans-Canada Highway from Longs Creek to the Quebec border, said the highway was seeing a mixed bag of weather. "Honestly, we're getting a mix of everything right now," indicating heavy rain was falling in the Long's Creek to Woodstock stretch. "The roads are reported to be partly snow covered in these areas with slushy spots," she said. "There are some areas with water buildup that we're going to working on as well today to remove." Murphy said travellers should use caution and to be wary of hydro-planing on water-covered roads. "We do have different areas of the highway with significantly different road conditions. From the Quebec border to Grand Falls, they're actually experiencing a full-on snow event right now." Icy patches are reported in some areas of central and western New Brunswick. ​Ross Mathers of Maritime Road Development Corp., which maintains the Trans-Canada from Longs Creek to Moncton, said conditions are mainly bare, but the passing lane is icy in some places. Mathers said it has been a busy fall for storms and MRDC has already used 1,000 tons of salt, or 10 times more than usual for this time of year. "We normally get eight or nine centimetres of snow all November. We are over 55 centimetres," said Mathers. "We normally get one minor snowstorm. We've had, I think, two to three majors and a couple of minors. So it was a very taxing month, November, and it looks like December is the same way." Most schools in province closed Wednesday Anglophone West, Anglophone North and Francophone North-West school districts closed schools for the day Wednesday. Francophone South School district closed all of its schools except those in Saint John and Quispamsis. Anglophone South schools are open but buses are running one hour late.