A weather front associated with a low-pressure system centred over Southern Ontario will bring more snow, ice and rain to the Maritimes Tuesday night and Wednesday, potentially triggering numerous weather alerts in the region. It will be a snowy start to Wednesday in northern New Brunswick as well as the Cape Breton Highlands. Wet snow in northern New Brunswick could total as much as 10-to-15 cm. Higher snow totals are possible in the Cape Breton Highlands, which are under a Snowfall Warning. Snow accumulation may vary depending on the surface. Western Prince Edward Island could also pick up some snow-ice pellet amounts of five-to-10 cm. The snow falling Wednesday morning will ease to flurries Wednesday afternoon. Iciest conditions Central and southern New Brunswick, northern and eastern Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island should expect to start Wednesday with a mix of ice pellets and freezing rain. The collection of ice on surfaces due to freezing rain is called ice accretion. Even a light glaze of ice can make for slippery travel surfaces. Give yourself extra time and space on the roads. Be cautious with your footing. Ice accretion exceeding five millimetres on a surface comes with increased risks such as more weight on tree branches that, if weighed down, could contact power lines and lead to outages. The risk of freezing rain will diminish by Wednesday afternoon. Patchy freezing drizzle may be present for Prince Edward Island and eastern Nova Scotia into Wednesday evening. April rain and showers A few parts of the Maritimes will receive mostly rain from the system. Periods of rain, drizzle and fog are forecast for western Nova Scotia. Rain is also expected along the Bay of Fundy coastline in New Brunswick, including areas such as Campobello and Grand Manan. General rain amounts of 15-to-30 mm are forecast. That amount of rain typically won’t cause many issues provided drainage systems aren’t blocked up. The rain diminishes to patchy showers and drizzle by Wednesday afternoon.
