Messy Winter Storm Takes Aim at Atlantic Canada This Weekend; Bringing Heavy Rain, Snow and Freezing Rain to Nova Scotia

The next several days will be quite messy across Atlantic Canada with a major winter storm bringing rain, freezing rain, and snow to the region beginning tomorrow morning. For Nova Scotia, the big story from this storm will be widespread heavy rain with 30-50mm expected to fall over the next two days.

The storm will start off as snow, beginning in the early hours of Friday in Western Nova Scotia and spreading eastward throughout the morning. The snow will only last for a couple of hours before transitioning to heavy rain. Yarmouth and Shelburne will likely avoid having snow and will rather have rain right from the start of the storm. Overall snow accumulation will be minor across most of the province with up to 10cm expected to fall in Cumberland County the Cape Breton Highlands. Any snow will quickly melt with the following rain and double digit temperatures.

The steady rain will continue into the afternoon and we’re expecting a brief period of clearing before picking back up again in the evening lasting through to Saturday afternoon. Saturday morning is when we’re going to see the heaviest rain to start in the west and it will reach Cape Breton Island by early afternoon. After several hours of this heavy rain, things will begin to clear up in the late afternoon and early evening. Up to 50mm of rain will fall across Nova Scotia by Saturday evening and there could be higher amounts locally.

On Saturday afternoon, the temperatures will be hovering around 0° in Northern Nova Scotia and there is the threat of freezing rain. Untreated surfaces may become icy quite quickly so be cautious when travelling in the area.

The strongest winds from this storm will be felt with the heavy rain tomorrow afternoon. Along coastal areas, wind gusts will be in the 70-80 km/h range while further inland, expect 60-70 km/h. The exception will be Les Suêtes winds which may be up to 100 km/h and possibly higher.

A second round of precipitation will move in from the south overnight Saturday and may bring widespread freezing rain across the province on Sunday. We will provide further updates on that possibility on Saturday.