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A cold and blustery weekend is in the works for Nova Scotia, with temperatures expected to fall into minus double digits, with widespread wind chill values in the –20s.
A cold front moving through the province on Friday night will bring scattered flurries and some light accumulation — generally a trace to two centimetres. Behind the front, northwest winds will strengthen overnight, gusting 50 km/h on the mainland and up to 60 km/h in Cape Breton.
Saturday will be bitterly cold and windy as Arctic air moves into the region.
(Ryan Snoddon/CBC)
Temperatures will tumble into the –10 to –15 C range by Saturday morning, and then fall a few more degrees into the afternoon. These temperatures, coupled with winds gusting 50 to 60 km/h will keep wind chill values in the –20 to –30 range throughout the day.
Environment Canada has issued yellow alert cold warnings for Cumberland, northern Colchester, Pictou and Antigonish counties, where wind chills are most likely to dip to near –30 C from Saturday morning to Sunday morning.
The mainland will see a mix of sun and cloud with a chance of flurries on Saturday, while Cape Breton stays mainly cloudy with onshore flurries and blowing snow over the Cape Breton Highlands, where five to 10 centimetres of snow is expected by Saturday evening.
(Ryan Snoddon/CBC)
A chance of flurries will linger for Saturday night for the mainland and into Sunday for Cape Breton. Another 5-10 cm is possible over the Highlands by Sunday evening.
By Sunday, the winds will ease across the mainland, though it will stay cold with highs ranging from –10 to –14 C. Wind chills of –20 to –30 in the morning will back off into the –15 to –20 range in the afternoon. Winds will continue to gust near 50 km/h for Cape Breton, keeping wind chills near –23.
This cold air is also plunging southward across the rest of Canada and the United States. Riding along the edge of the cold air will be a major winter storm which is looking set to impact much of the U.S. with significant snowfall and freezing rain.
(Ryan Snoddon/CBC)
That same winter storm is looking likely to track through our region bringing significant snowfall.
The storm is set to arrive Sunday night, bringing snow through Monday and Monday night.
Given the long duration of the event, widespread snowfall totals near and exceeding 20 centimetres are looking increasingly likely by Tuesday. The storm is also likely to bring gusty winds and areas of blowing snow.
I’ll have more details on this storm here at cbc.ca/ns this weekend. Check back for updates.
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