Ice storm persists in northern New Brunswick

Freezing rain is continuing on the Acadian Peninsula Wednesday evening while the area around Bathurst, Campbellton and Edmundston is expected to see a mix of flurries and ice pellets.

While much of the southern part of New Brunswick was trying to break free from the icy grips of an ice storm overnight Tuesday and early Wednesday, the storm persists in the northern part of New Brunswick.

At its peak, more than 130,000 NB Power customers were without electricity Wednesday because of the winter storm.

• New Brunswick ice storm knocks out power to more than 100,000 customers
• Storm Centre New Brunswick: Check the latest closures and cancellations
• Staying safe after ice storm: let the pros remove trees from power lines, NB Power says

CBC meteorologistKalinMitchell said temperatures will fall to between -6 C and -1 C overnight but are expected to go above the freezing markon Thursday.

In much of the north, the weather shouldturn into sun and clouds, with rain and flurries continuing throughout central and southern New Brunswick, he said. The Acadian Peninsula may still experience flurries.

He added the warming temperatures in much of the province should bring some relief to the 100,000 NB Power customers still affected by outages from the storm.

"It is a little bit fortunate for us that things are not getting bitterly cold directly in behind this weather system," he told Shift New Brunswick on Wednesday.

"Actually staying above normal here over the next 24 to 48 hours before that colder air starts to work its way in."

Warming shelters open

NBPower crews continued to reset power after the ice storm swept across the province Tuesday night, leaving 130,000 customers in the dark.

Several New Brunswick municipalities have now opened warming centres for those who remain without power as of Wednesday evening.

• Warming centres offer shelter after ice storm darkens homes across N.B.
• Storm's a-brewin': Are you ready?

NB Power said it is bringing in additional crews to respond to the outages, which were the result of high winds and falling trees, as well as ice build-up on transmission and electricity lines.