Alberta Clipper brings snow, school closures and poor road conditions

Playing null of undefined

Cape Bretoners dig out of more snow

First at Five: Winter Wonderland

Risk of snow squalls continues for parts of the Maritimes

Storm causes closures, poor road conditions in the Maritimes

Roads are slick and snow-covered in many parts of the Maritimes Thursday as an Alberta Clipper moves through the region.

The latest round of snow has closed all schools in Nova Scotia and also caused a plane to slide on the runway at the Halifax airport Wednesday night.

No one was injured and buses were used to take passengers to the terminal.

That runway remains closed as of Thursday morning, pending the plane’s removal. The airport’s second runway remains open.

Weather alerts

Yellow snowfall warnings are in place for northern Nova Scotia.

Five to 10 cm of additional snowfall is expected over higher terrain before tapering to flurries in the afternoon.

In Cape Breton, yellow snowfall warnings are also in place.

Environment Canada says 15 to 20 cm of total snowfall is expected, though up to 35 cm is possible over the Highlands.

“Snow will taper off through the day across most of Cape Breton. Heavier snow is expected to reintensify over the Cape Breton Highlands tonight and continue into Friday morning,” the warning reads.

“Strong northwesterly winds will also develop this evening, which could lead to reduced visibilities in blowing snow.”

For Sydney, N.S, resident Bob Zwarun, who has mobility issues, the fresh dump of snow brings new challenges.

“Sometimes it gets so blocked that I can’t even go on the sidewalks,” Zwarun said. “I have to go on the side of the streets, which is equally dangerous.”

Yellow snowfall warnings are also in place for central and eastern Prince Edward Island, where five to 10 cm of additional snowfall is expected until the afternoon.

Strong northwesterly winds are also expected to develop in the afternoon, leading to reduced visibilities in blowing snow.

There are currently no weather alerts in place for New Brunswick.

School closures

All schools in Nova Scotia are closed Thursday.

In New Brunswick, all buses in the St. Stephen Education Centre are running on a one-hour delay, though schools will open on time.

Some schools on P.E.I. are operating on a one-hour delay.

A full list of closures can be found here.

Other closures

The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) said all municipal offices were delaying opening until noon.

The Budget Committee meeting was delayed until 1 p.m.

Municipally-owned and operated recreation facilities are delaying opening.

Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) said the city hall building and Cape Breton Regional Police Service offices will reopen at 1 p.m.

All provincial civil service offices in the Queens, Charlottetown and Kings County areas of P.E.I. delayed opening until 10:30 a.m.

All branches and departments of Halifax Public Libraries delayed opening until noon.

Power

As of 2 p.m., there were 20 active outages in Nova Scotia affecting 468 customers.

There were two outages at that time affecting three NB Power customers.

There are no outages on P.E.I.

Travel

Snow routes for Halifax Transit buses are in effect. Access-a-bus service will also be delayed.

Residents are being asked to avoid all non-essential travel while cleanup efforts are underway.

Deteriorating road conditions are being blamed for a number of collisions in the region.

Police, fire and ambulance crews responded to a collision involving a public transit bus in the 300 block of Millwood Drive in Middle Sackville around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Police say the bus had been travelling east on Millwood Drive when a white SUV that was travelling in the opposite direction slid across the road and hit the front of the bus.

The driver of the SUV then broke free from the bus and allegedly drove away.

The bus driver was not injured.

There were no passengers on board at the time.

Police say their investigation is ongoing.

New Brunswick RCMP said Thursday morning they were responding to several collisions due to deteriorating winter conditions on Highway 2 between Memramcook and Scoudouc.

Transit Cape Breton resumed operations at 11 a.m., however riders can expect delays due to road conditions.

Due to adverse weather conditions, Marine Atlantic has cancelled the following Thursday sailings:

• The 11:15 p.m. crossing from North Sydney, N.S., to Port aux Basques, N.L.
• The 11:30 p.m. crossing Port aux Basques to North Sydney

Parking ban

A temporary overnight parking ban in Saint John, N.B., has been declared for the South/Central Peninsula effective 11 p.m. Thursday through to 7 a.m. Friday.

Any vehicles still on the street after 11 p.m. will be ticketed and/or towed at the owner’s risk.

An overnight parking ban is in place in Halifax for both Zone 1 and Zone 2 effective from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. Friday.

Any vehicles parked on the streets between those times can be ticketed/towed, according to the HRM.

Waste collection

Curbside collection of solid waste in the HRM has been rescheduled for Feb. 26.

“Please ensure your waste is securely stored and away from the curb to allow room for snow clearing crews to work,” says Halifax Recycles.

Curbside collection is also cancelled in the CBRM.

Extra garbage bags and green cart material will be collected on the next regularly scheduled collection day.

Canada Post

Canada Post says red delivery service alerts have been issued for parts of Nova Scotia Thursday.

There are no deliveries in the following locations due to severe winter conditions:

• Cape Breton
• Dartmouth
• Eastern Shore
• Halifax
• New Glasgow
• South Nova Scotia

With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald