Weather statements issued in the Maritimes ahead of snow Thursday

Spring mix of snow, rain expected Thursday A mix of rain and snow is expected to fall in the Maritimes Thursday. Kalin Mitchell has the latest.

Environment Canada has issued special weather statements in the Maritimes ahead of a spring mix of snow and rain arriving Thursday.

Special weather statements are now in effect for the northern half of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and eastern areas of Nova Scotia. The statements for New Brunswick and eastern Nova Scotia call for totals of 10 to 20 cm Thursday into Friday. For P.E.I., amounts near 15 cm are expected.

Environment Canada notes that “Travel will likely be affected. Roads and sidewalks may become difficult to navigate due to rapidly accumulating snow.”

The weather agency also notes that snowfall warnings may be required in future updates.

The inclement weather gets started as some initial snow arriving in western New Brunswick Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon will see the snow become more widespread in New Brunswick and a mix of snow turning to rain for western Nova Scotia.

The snow will arrive for P.E.I. and eastern Nova Scotia Thursday evening and Cape Breton late evening or near midnight. The snow will linger into Friday for P.E.I., the north shore of mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. The will be a chance of flurries or showers on Friday for the remainder of the Maritimes.

Given the mix of precipitation and the wet nature of the snow, accumulations will be varied around the region. As above, the highest snow potential will be northern New Brunswick, P.E.I. and eastern areas of Nova Scotia including Cape Breton.

Central areas of New Brunswick and central areas of mainland Nova Scotia could pick up five to 10 cm of snow.

Southwestern New Brunswick and western mainland Nova Scotia could see up to five cm of slushy snow before a turn to rain, which could total five to 20 mm.

Wind isn’t expected to be a widespread issue with the system. Southeast gusts of 30 to 50 km/h will accompany the snow and rain, except gusts up to 60 km/h on exposed areas of the coast.

Stronger easterly gusts of 60 to 80 km/h are possible for Cape Breton Friday morning. Northern Inverness County could approach peak gusts of 100 km/h Friday morning due to the topography of the Highlands.