New Brunswick weather: 60 cm of snow blankets Maritimes

• CBC Storm Centre: Check the latest cancellations
• TIMELINE:Maritimes getting heavy snow, ice pellets, freezing rain and rain

"Charlottetownrecorded 64 centimetres of snow," Abraham said.

The Moncton area received53centimetres, Fredericton received 33 while Saint John had 31 centimetres of snow Sunday.

"The low pressure centre is still over the Gulf of St. Lawrence with verystrong west to northwest winds over the region and snow or flurries, aswell as extensive blowing and drifting snow persisting, especially inPrince Edward Island and eastern Nova Scotia."

Environment Canada has issued a blowing snow advisory for eastern New Brunswick, warning of poor visibility.

"Visibility may be significantly and suddenly reduced to near zero," the statementsays.

Abraham says asthe storm centre moves slowly northeastward on Monday, conditions willgradually improve although temperatures will be well below normal.

Travel conditions difficult

Route 820 in southwestern New Brunswick is closed until further notice between Route 111 and Baxter's Corner, due to blowing snow, the Department of Transportation said.

New Brunswick RCMP say travel is not advised on the Trans-Canada Highway between the Quebec border and Longs Creek.

RossMathers, a spokesperson for the Maritime Road Development Corp, which operates the Trans-Canada Highway between Longs Creek andMoncton, is advising people not to travel on that four-lane stretch of highway.

"Go tomorrow," he said."It's not good.

"You're going to run a very high risk of going off the road or getting stuck somewhere and it may be a few hours before you get rescued."

Several highways in New Brunswick remain closed on Monday, along with the Confederation Bridge between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

The road closures include:

• Highway 2 betweenMonctonand the NovaScotiaborder.
• Highway 11 from Janeville to Caraquet on the Acadian Peninsula
• Highway 16 betweenAulacand CapeTormentine.
• Highway 116 from Big Forks to Route 126.

InSaint John, Highway 1 westbound was blocked at theLorneville exit for about four hours, following an eight- to 10-car pileup Monday morning.

Snow was drifting across the highway at the time, said Const. Tom Clayton.

No one was injured.

Traffic backedup as other vehicles were being directed off the highway.

Tow trucks wereused to extricate the vehicles involved in the accident, then highway crews cleared the drifts, said Clayton.

A Saint John Transit bus was sent to pick up the stranded motorists, he said.

The highway was closed again near Spruce Lake shortly before 4 p.m., due to more accidents and road conditions.

On Prince Edward Island, snowplows have been off the roads in the east and west of the province since 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. In the central part of the province, they have been out of service since 8 p.m.

Roads in central P.E.I.are closed Monday because of blowing and drifting snow.

Thousands without electricity

NB Power outages were being reported by more than 3,000homes and businesses early Monday, but by about 7:30 p.m., that number had dropped to about 1,042.

Most of those outages are in southeast New Brunswick, with the largest outage being 795 in Sackville.

Shediac has 125 outages, Moncotn, 86, andBouctouche, 34.

Spokesperson Meghan Gerrishexpects 85 per cent of the outages will be repaired by the evening, but there's no timeline for getting the other15 per cent back online.

The weather in the southeast has been making repairs difficult, said Gerrish.

The utility isworking with the Department of Transportation to get back roads cleared so line crews can get through, she said.

Maritime Electric was reporting about 1,600 customers in Prince Edward Island without electricity on Monday afternoon.

NB Power spokespersonMeghan Gerrish says the high winds are to blame.

"Right now it's about accessing the locations and once they get into those locations then people should be back online pretty quickly," Gerrish said.

The City of Moncton has opened a warming centre at the Crossman centre for those affected by power outages.

Schools across New Brunswick are closed

The weekend storm has forced schools across New Brunswick to keep their doors closed.

Universities and colleges have also announced full or partial closures as a result of the storm.

• NBCC Fredericton classes are cancelled and the building will be closed until noon.
• NBCC campuses in Moncton and Dieppe closed this morning. Classes start at 1 p.m.
• NBCC in Saint John is closed for the day.
• All morning and afternoon classes cancelled at University of New Brunswick in Saint John
• Mount Allison University in Sackville closed until noon today
• University of Moncton's campus in Moncton is closed until 1 p.m.An update will be made at 10:30 to announce the re-opening or complete closing of campus for the day.

Due to a provincial holiday, most schools, universities, government offices and businesses in Prince Edward Island are closed Monday regardless of the storm.

Monday weather set to improve

For southern New Brunswick,Monday will be cloudy with flurries and blowing snow, especially in the east.

A mix of sun and cloud is expected by afternoon in the west. Winds will diminish late in the day with a high of 12 C.

For northern New Brunswick, there is a blizzard warning in effect for the Acadian Peninsula for todaywith snow and blowing snow expected to persist.

Elsewhere in the north it will be cloudy with flurried and sunny periods Monday afternoon in the west.

Winds will diminish late in the day with high near 12 C.

For Fredericton and area, Monday will be cloudy with a few morning flurries and a mix of sun and cloud in the afternoon.

Winds will diminish late in the day and highs expected to reach 12 C.