How much more snow to expect through Tuesday morning in the Maritimes

CTV Atlantic meteorologist Kalin Mitchell has some preliminary snow reports plus how much more can be expected Monday through Tuesday morning.

A slow-moving Nor’easter continues to bring snow into the Maritimes Monday through Tuesday morning. The snow is more powder than compact but has added to some amounts near 30 cm in parts of Nova Scotia. Weather alerts continue in all three Maritimes provinces.

Preliminary reports

I only have some initial and very preliminary snowfall reports. This is a long duration snow event and more will be coming down and accumulating in the Maritimes into, and in some cases, through Tuesday morning.

The highest reports have so far come from southwest Nova Scotia, ranging between 15 and 35 cm. As expected, the snow is “powdery” in nature, making it easy to blow into drifts and more difficult to measure. We won’t have anything close to final snow total reports until Tuesday morning for most of the Maritimes and Tuesday afternoon for Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton.

How much more snow to expect

The centre of the storm will slowly meander towards Sable Island Monday night, then it will slowly move east through Tuesday. More snow will be drawn into the Maritimes off the Atlantic. Additionally, snow on the back edge of the system in Quebec and New England will also get pulled across the Maritimes Monday night into Tuesday morning.

Expect another two-to-five centimetres of snow in northern New Brunswick and southwestern Nova Scotia. There will be another five-to-15 centimetres of snow in general for the rest of the Maritimes with pockets where it could be lower or a bit higher. One area being indicated as potentially picking up more than another 15 cm is parts of Pictou, Antigonish, and Guysborough counties in Nova Scotia.

Yellow Warnings – Snowfall continue for southern New Brunswick, Kings and Queens counties in Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. There are Winter Storm warnings for Shelburne and Queens counties in Nova Scotia, where stronger wind gusts are expected near the coast. There are Special Weather Statements for Carleton, Stanley – Doaktown, and Kent County in New Brunswick and a Special Weather Statement for Prince County in Prince Edward Island.

What follows

Colder than average temperatures (though not as cold as the weekend) continue through the end of this week. There will be no sudden warm-up to melt the snow away. Great news for the ski hills and those who enjoy cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and snowshoeing.

Areas of flurries or lighter snow look likely for Thursday. A coastal low-pressure system on Friday looks to pass far enough east of the Maritimes to not impact us but is one I’ll keep a watch on.

After a seasonably chilly weekend, there is some indication of another Nor’easter type system moving north up the eastern seaboard at the start of next week. That one is too far out in the extended forecast to tell whether it could impact the Maritimes with inclement weather.