'Roller coaster ride' weather sets records, washes out roads and brings snow around N.L.
Strong winds, rain, flooding and large snowfalls have broken weather records and left some roads damaged or closed around Newfoundland and Labrador on Saturday.
"It's been a roller coaster ride for sure," said Rodney Barney, a meteorologist at Environment Canada's Weather Office in Gander.
"We had a bit of everything."
Barney said there were record high temperatures in a number of places Friday, including St. John's, which bested the previous record for that date by two degrees. The high temperatures were coupled with sustained high winds, gusting as high as 135 km/h on the northwest part of the Avalon Peninsula.
"What was remarkable is that the winds were gusting over 90 kilometres an hour for 12-plus hours, so it was a long duration wind event," Barney said.
On the west coast of the island, Barney said there was "no shortage of rainfall."
He said 126 millimetres of rain fell in the Gallants area and as much as 107 in Stephenville. The large amount of precipitation led to flooding and washouts throughout the area.
According to the province's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Twitter account, the Trans-Canada Highway remains closed approximately six kilometres west of Route 490, also known as the Stephenville Access Road. The department said traffic can reach the Stephenville area via Routes 490 and 461.
As well, Route 403 at Flat Bay is closed due to a wash out and Route 461 at St. George's is closed to all left turning traffic from the TCH. The TCH in the area of George's Lake had been closed due to a wash out on Friday, but has reopened to traffic while repairs continue.
Roads are also closed in parts of the Northern Peninsula and Labrador, following some heavy snowfall.
Barney said almost 20 centimetres of snow fell in Daniel's Harbour, while a total approaching 60 centimetres landed in southern Labrador. Drifting snow and ice patches have resulted in the Southern Labrador Highway being closed from Lodge Bay to Pinware, as well as Route 510 to St. Louis and sections of highway surrounding St. Anthony.
While Saturday is expected to be a mild day for much of the province, extreme cold warnings remain in effect for the Wabush and Churchill Falls area, with Saturday's temperatures predicted to be around -38 degrees with a windchill of -47.
