P.E.I. hits pause button under flash freeze warning

With the province under a flash freeze warning schools have closed and dozens of businesses and civil service offices are delaying opening.

Both the Public Schools Branch and the French Language School Board are closed.

• See a full list of cancellations on Storm Centre.
• Call in your cancellations to 1-877-236-9350.

UPEI andHolland College are also closed for the day, and businesses and government offices across P.E.I. are delaying opening while they wait to see what the weather will bring.

By 10 a.m. plow dispatchers all across the province were saying water was freezing on the roads.

The storm brought 11 centimetres of snow and 13 millimetres of rain to Charlottetown Airport Sunday, and it is the rain that followed the snow that is now the issue.

Temperatures climbed to 8 C overnight, and streets, roads and sidewalks are covered in standing water. The temperature is forecast to dive to -6 C by mid-afternoon and -13 C overnight, prompting a flash freeze warning from Environment Canada.

"It's slippery conditions. With the rain that we had yesterday it's hard to treat the roadways," said CBC meteorologist Tina Simpkin.

At Charlottetown Airport the temperature fell 7 C between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. Temperature varied widely across the province at 6 a.m. but were falling rapidly everywhere.

• -6 C in North Cape.
• 0 C in Charlottetown.
• 9 C in St Peters.

Environment Canada says those plummeting temperatures would cause treacherous driving conditions early in the morning in Prince County, by 9 a.m. in Queens, and in Kings near noon.

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