Squalls pile up the snow in southwestern Nova Scotia, colder nights ahead

CTV Atlantic meteorologist Kalin Mitchell says Prince Edward Island and the southwestern corner of Nova Scotia saw steady and heavy snow Tuesday into Wednesday.

Snow squalls produced amounts of more than 15 cm for parts of Yarmouth and Digby Counties in Nova Scotia Tuesday into Wednesday. A cold snap moves into the region over the next few nights.

Snow reports

In lighter snow and flurries, most snow reported ranged from trace to near four centimetres over the last 24 hours in the Maritimes. Steadier snow produced totals of six-to-11 centimetres in Prince Edward Island as well as near eight cm for Sydney in Cape Breton.

The highest snow reports though came in from the coastal areas of Digby and Yarmouth Counties in Nova Scotia. Volunteer observers are reporting 25 cm of new in the Port Maitland, 18 cm of snow in Tusket, and 13-to-18 cm in Yarmouth. Snow squalls located within the flurries off the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine are responsible for the localized heavier snowfall. Those areas can expect an additional one-to-five centimetres of snow through Wednesday.

Wednesday until Thursday morning may see another one-to-five centimetres of snow fall for parts of P.E.I. and northern/eastern Nova Scotia. Snow squalls could produce localized amounts of five-to-10 centimetres in Antigonish County and the Cape Breton Highlands.

Colder nights

The clockwise circulation in the atmosphere around a high-pressure system centered in the Midwest United States is drawing colder air out of northern Quebec into the Maritimes. A couple of colder nights are expected to close out this week. Breaks in the cloud cover during the night will also allow for temperatures to fall a few more degrees.

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New Brunswick can expect to wake up Thursday morning to temperatures in the range of -12 to -19, and coldest in the northwest of the province. P.E.I. will have early morning temperatures of -5 to -8 except -4 on coastlines. Nova Scotia will se morning temperatures of -5 to -11, except -4 on coastlines.

A similarly cold night is forecast Thursday night into Friday morning.

Weekend weather

It will be a cold start to the weekend but with a swing upward in temperatures along with a mix of snow and rain before it ends.

The change in weather arrives as a low-pressure system moving into western Quebec pushes a weather front to the eastern seaboard of the United States. A second low-pressure system develops on and moves up that front, moving across the Maritime Saturday night and Sunday.

Temperatures are forecast to rise above freezing for most of the Maritimes Saturday night into Sunday in a gusty southerly wind. Some initial snow amounts of five-to-10 centimetres may fall in northwestern New Brunswick but much of the rest of the Maritimes is likely to see a quick change from snow-to-rain or mostly rain.

General rain totals of 15-to-40 mm would be typical with a system such as this. Frozen ground and snow melt will add to water runoff. The rain will be clearing west-to-east Sunday afternoon through Sunday evening.

A bitter winter cold is expected to return to the Maritimes early next week as we get a taste of a fresh round of Arctic air breaking down across central and eastern parts of the country.