Nor'easter closes all schools, causes thousands of power outages
Close to 2,000 NB Power customers woke up without power on Wednesday
A major nor'easter pummelling the province today has forced all schools to close and disrupted power, business and travel.
All schools in the anglophone and francophone school districts were closed.
At mid-afternoon,close to 2,000NB Power customers were still without power, down from more than5,500 during the outage'speak Wednesday morning.About 1,300 of those customers were in the KennebecasisValley Fundy region.
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"As power outages were reported overnight, NB Power crews made good progress restoring customers,"saidMarie-Andre Bolduc, a spokesperson for NB Power.
High winds, poor visibility and snow-covered roads continue to be a challenge for the 60 NB Power crews working to restore power lines across the province. But there has been no major damage to infrastructure.
"Heavy wet snow has caused trees to make contact with lines and high winds have caused some lines to touch," she said.
"The number of outages mayfluctuate until the storm subsides."
NB Power also wants to remind motorists to slow down when they see crews working on the side of the road.
"If members of the public see downed lines, please stay at a safe distance of 10 metres," she said.
St. Thomas University and the University of New Brunswick's Frederictoncampusdelayed opening until 11:30 a.m.This includes all classes, administrative offices, gymnasiums and libraries except the AitkenUniversity Centre,which will be open at its regular hours.
Classes at the New Brunswick Community College in Fredericton were cancelled but the campus opened at 11:30 a.m.
Some businesses were either closed or late opening.Fredericton Transit delayed its start until 10:15 a.m. from Kings Place. Several flights from the Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton airports were also cancelled.
Federal government offices were to be closed until noon on Wednesday, while provincial and some municipal offices didn't open until later in the morning.
Storm warning continues
Most of the province remains under a winter storm warning from Environment Canada, as heavy snow, strong winds and blowing snow are expected to continue throughout the day.
About 35to 55centimetres of snow is forecast for the easternregion of the province but areas near the Gulf of St. Lawrence coast, could receive even more than that, Environment Canada said in a statement.
Total snowfall amounts of 20to 35centimetres are generally expected by late Wednesday night for western areas.
"An intense low pressure system south of Nova Scotia will track across eastern Nova Scotia this morning and then linger over the Gulf of St. Lawrence today," the weather agency said.
"Rapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult over some locations. Visibility will be suddenly reduced to near zero at times in heavy snow and blowing snow."
Felicia Murphy, a spokesperson for SNC-Lavalin, said roads are snow covered and slippery between Perth Andover andLongs Creek due to poor visibility. Travel is also not recommended from the U.S. border to Woodstock.
"The road itself is also snow covered with icy patches and slush," she said.
"We do ask you to delay your travels, if you do have to travel, keep it slow."
The Department of Transportation said travel advisories have been issued forRoute 1 from Saint John to River Glade,
Route 8 from Jeanne Mance to Bathurst and Route 11 from Belledune to Tracadie.Only emergency vehicles arepermitted from Janeville to Bertrand.
Mike Walker,manager of roadway operations for the City of Fredericton,said crews have been working overnight and said drivers should give themselves lots of room to stop on their way to work.
He said blowing snow will also fill sidewalks throughout the day.
"Main streets are looking pretty good right now but they're certainly slushy and very wet," he said.
"You can certainly slide around on that."
He said it'll take a few days to get everything cleaned up.
Kalin Mitchell,CBCmeteorologist,said winds would continue to be strong Wednesday afternoon, gusting to 70 km/h along the Bay of Fundy coast.
The toppeak winds in New Brunswick overnight were in Moncton, where the windreached 85 km/h, Grand Manan, 81 km/h, and Fredericton, 76 km/h, Mitchell said.
New Brunswick forecast
Northern New Brunswick
Today: Cloudy with snow and blowing snow. Snowfall between 10and 20cm of snow, highest amounts in the east. Northeasterly winds will be travelling between 20 km/h and 40 km/h in the afternoon. Temperatures will be at a high near 0 C.
Tonight: Cloudy with snow easing to flurries in the evening. Southwesterly winds will be travelling at about 20 km/h. Temperatures will drop to 5 C.
Thursday: Cloudy with sunny breaks with flurries and showers. Southwesterly winds will be travelling at 20 km/h and gusting to 40 km/h in the afternoon. Temperatures will be at a high of 3 C.
Fredericton and area
Today: Cloudy with periods of snow between 10cm and 15cm. Westerly winds will be travelling at about 20 km/h. Temperatures will be at a high of 3 C.
Tonight: Cloudy with flurries. Southwesterly winds will be travelling at about 10 km/h by midnight. Temperatures will drop to a low near 4 C.
Thursday: Cloudy with sunny breaks with isolated showers or flurries. Westerly winds will also be travelling between 20 km/h and 40 km/hin the afternoon. Temperatures will be at a high near 3 C.
Southern New Brunswick
Today: Cloudy with periods of snow or a mix of snow, ice pellets and rain. Snowfall between between 10cm and 15cm is expected.
Southwesterly winds will be travelling between 30 km/h and 50 km/h in the afternoon. Temperatures will be at a high near 2 C.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy with isolated showers or flurries. Southwesterly winds will be travelling between 20 km/h and 40 km/h by midnight. Temperatures will be at a low near1 C.
Thursday: Cloudy with isolated showers or flurries. Southwesterly winds will be travelling between 30 km/h and 50 km/h in the afternoon. Temperatures will be at a high of about 4 C.
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