WEA-Atl-Snow, 1st Writethru
code:6
Update:ADDS details about closures; quotes from meteorologist
Eds:Moves both Atlantic and National, guard against duplication. Will Be Updated.
INDEX: Weather, National, Atlantic
HL:Offices closed, flights cancelled throughout Maritimes as storm moves north
THE CANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX 鈥� Flights were cancelled and schools, government offices and universities throughout the Maritimes were closed Tuesday as a powerful winter storm unleashed stiff winds and brought heavy snowfall to the region.
The messy system had already shuttered schools and businesses in the eastern United States, with thousands of flights also being cancelled.
Environment sa国际传媒 issued blizzard warnings for Prince Edward Island, southeastern New Brunswick and most of Nova Scotia, along with a mix of freezing rain, wind and snowfall warnings for Newfoundland.
The federal forecasting agency says winds could gust up to 100 kilometres per hour and snowfall accumulations could reach 40 centimetres or more.
Meteorologist Linda Libby said the storm would likely intensify early in the afternoon, but that much of the region was already seeing visibility drop sharply and snowfall accumulations climb.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big storm,鈥� she said from Charlottetown, which was expecting some of the system鈥檚 highest winds and snowfall amounts. 鈥淲e are looking at some persistence of some very severe conditions, certainly making travel for many locations around the region really quite hazardous.鈥�
Wind speeds were starting to pick up to more than 60 kilometres an hour on the Island, reducing visibility to less than half a kilometre in much of the region, Libby said.
In its long list of warnings, Environment sa国际传媒 said snow will mix with or change to ice pellets over parts of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island later in the day.
Municipal officials throughout the region urged people to stay off the roads as there could be near-zero visibility with wind gusts whipping snow across roads. In Nova Scotia, power outages were also being reported in Yarmouth and Kingston.
Airports across the region were showing dozens of cancellations.
Libby said she doesn鈥檛 expect the system to move out of the area completely until Wednesday evening.
The storm spun up the East Coast, pounding parts of coastal New Jersey northward through Maine with high winds and heavy snow.
While the storm failed to live up to predictions in some areas, eastern Long Island north through Massachusetts and Maine were expected to fare the worst, with up to just under a metre of snow, punishing hurricane-force winds and the possibility of some coastal flooding, according to the National Weather Service.
It said Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, could get about a half a metre of snow. In Maine and New Hampshire, a state of emergency has been declared, and government offices in both states were closed Tuesday.
Parts of Long Island were dealing with hazardous conditions, with snow falling five centimetres per hour. Blizzard warnings were lifted for New York City and New Jersey early Tuesday.
08:27ET 27-01-15
