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Spring may have sprung but Newfoundland and parts of Labrador are bracing for wet and freezing precipitation.
Environment Canada has issued yellow freezing rain warnings across swaths of the island. The Bonavista and Avalon peninsulas could get five to 15 millimetres of freezing rain Tuesday night through to Wednesday afternoon.
“We are in for obviously a little bit of weather,” CBC meteorologist Ashley Brauweiler told CBC Radio’s The St. John’s Morning Show.
She said there is “a little bit of uncertainty in the forecast,” adding it could still change.
The temperature could rise to four to five degrees Tuesday afternoon before dropping, with the rain transitioning into freezing rain until Wednesday afternoon, said Brauweiler.
Environment Canada has issued freezing rain warnings for parts of Newfoundland. (Environment Canada)
Brauweiler said North America is starting to see milder spring temperatures this time of the year.
“There is that big temperature difference at the moment. And when we see this blocking pattern, which is what we’re in right now, you tend to see that colder air and then the warmer air to the south,” said Brauweiler.
“So just a little bit of that jet stream moving the air or moving the weather systems gives us the difference between seeing some wintry weather or some spring weather.”
The forecast for incoming freezing rain comes on the heels of Monday’s weather that went up to 19.9 C, which Brauweiler said broke a record for that day set in 1954 when the high was 16.1 C.
“Just to top that all off, it was the warmest day we’ve had since October 9th.”
But she said we could be waiting a while for another nice spring day, adding there is the chance of snow in the metro area later this week.
“So certainly something we need to keep an eye on,” said Brauweiler.
A special weather statement is in effect for a large chunk of the northeast coast, for Twillingate, over Grand Falls Windsor, as well as Connaigre and the interior. It is forecasted to bring two to five millimetres of freezing rain or a potential snowfall accumulation of 10-20 centimetres.
Another special weather statement is also in effect for southeastern Labrador and the Northern Peninsula, which could bring 10-20 centimetres of snowfall Wednesday morning into Thursday evening, mixed with freezing rain.
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