Schools closed, roads slick as snow blankets the Maritimes

First at Five - December 12 First at Five we check in with Maritimers to see how they're handling the wintry blast of weather.

Several schools across the Maritimes closed and some dismissed students early as heavy snow coated the region on Monday.

CTV Atlantic weather anchor Alyse Hand said some areas saw between 15 and 20 centimetres of snow.

“This is a powerful storm. It’s going to bring quite a bit of snow,” said Hand. “The temperatures are starting to climb and that’s going to cause the snow to turn to rain and, as it does, that will create some very slippery conditions on the roadways.”

The wintry weather prompted school closures across the region. All schools in the Anglophone South and Anglophone East schools districts were closed, along with schools in the Miramichi and Rexton areas.

Schools in Digby County and the Annapolis Valley were closed for the day. The South Shore Regional School Board announced Monday morning that it would be dismissing students three hours early, while the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board announced it would be dismissing students two hours early.

The Halifax Regional School Board eventually decided to start dismissing students at 11:30 a.m. but it didn’t tweet the decision until after 11 a.m.

Dalhousie University is closing its Halifax and Truro campuses at 3:30 p.m. The University of King's College is also closing at 3:30 p.m.

A number of Nova Scotia Community College and New Brunswick Community College campuses closed early due to the weather.

All schools on Prince Edward Island closed two hours early. Both Holland College and the University of Prince Edward Island closed at 12:30 p.m.

Police in all three Maritime provinces are warning motorists to drive carefully, or keep off the roads altogether, as the snow continues to fall, making roads slick.

Airports across the Maritimes are reporting delayed and cancelled flights. Travellers are encouraged to check their flight status before heading to the airport.

The weather conditions are also impacting ferry crossings across the regions. Northumberland Ferries has cancelled crossings between Wood Islands, P.E.I. and Caribou, N.S. Bay Ferries has cancelled crossings between Saint John and Digby, N.S. Marine Atlantic has cancelled crossings between North Sydney, N.S. and Port aux Baques, N.L.