Messy storm coming Sunday to Maritimes to last into Monday

Here we go again.

On the heels of the late-week system that impacted the Maritimes, another storm is rolling in Sunday and into Monday.

Our latest storm will again bring a wide variety of conditions, with heavy snow and a messy mix of ice pellets, freezing rain and rain.

The storm will also bring another round of strong winds, which will lead to the risk of more power outages across the region for late Sunday and into Monday.

The heaviest snow is on the way for the northern half of New Brunswick, where a widespread 20 to 40 centimetres looks likely.

Southern New Brunswick and P.E.I. are looking likely to see five to 15 centimetres of snow and ice pellets and then a mix to freezing rain.

Nova Scotia will see snow and ice pellet amounts ranging from nearly five to 10 centimetres, with the highest amounts likely for northeastern areas and Cape Breton.

For Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and southern New Brunswick, the freezing rain with this system will be prolonged, lasting from four to as much as eight hours this evening and overnight.

The result will be a coating of ice that will build up on surfaces, including roads and power lines, increasing a risk of power outages.

Timeline

The snow will arrive from southwest to northeast this afternoon and early this evening. Roads will become snowy and travellers should prepare accordingly.

That snow will then transition to ice pellets to freezing rain late afternoon and early this evening in the southwest and then mid-to-late evening for the rest of southern New Brunswick, northeast Nova Scotia and P.E.I. The transition to freezing rain will occur overnight in Cape Breton.

As the messy mix gets underway, the southeast winds will crank up with gusts of 50 to 60 km/h and even 70 km/h for coastal areas.

By late evening, southwestern Nova Scotia will see a transition from ice to rain as the winds shift southwest and the temperatures rise above the freezing mark.

That transition from freezing rain to rain and drizzle will continue overnight across the rest of the southern Maritimes as temperatures rise into the low- to mid-single digits by early Monday morning. The heavy snow continues across northern New Brunswick.

Monday will bring a shift to strong westerly winds and significant temperature drops.

We'll see widespread wind gusts of 60 to 80 km/h across the Maritimes, with coastal areas gusting to 90 km/h, especially in southwest Nova Scotia.

Temperatures will fall into the –6 C to –10 C range across the Maritimes by late afternoon, leading to freeze up of any standing water and leftover slush.

The snow and blowing snow will continue across northern New Brunswick throughout Monday, while further south we'll see flurries with localized blowing snow in the gusty winds.

Winds will remain strong and gusty through Monday night before finally easing throughout the day Tuesday with some lingering flurries.

Wednesday looks quieter with some near seasonal temperatures across the Maritimes.

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