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Canadians waiting for winter weather, rejoice: two weather systems are bringing snow to some parts of the country this weekend, and bone-chilling cold elsewhere.
SNOW DAY IN PARTS OF NEWFOUNDLAND
School-aged children got a small extension to their winter holidays, with multiple schools in the Avalon Peninsula and the central part of the province closed Friday.
A winter storm warning issued in the morning suggested as much as 35 centimetres of snow could be dumped during the day.
The Burin and Bonavista peninsulas are under a winter storm watch from Environment Canada, as a storm that began early Friday morning travels out of the area.
Affected areas of Newfoundland could see 10 to 20 centimetres of snowfall by the tail-end of the storm, with higher accumulation possible in some areas.
Blowing and heavy snow is expected to decrease visibility “especially tonight,” Environment Canada’s warning read.
By Saturday morning the conditions were expected to improve.
INCOMING STORM FROM THE U.S.
Elsewhere, the first few weeks of winter did not bring much snow, but that was expected to change in some spots thanks to a massive weather system gathering speed across the eastern United States.
Over the next few days, communities in southern Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces can anticipate a looming winter storm that — for some areas — could bring up to 30 centimetres of snow.
Kelsey McEwen, CTV Your Morning’s meteorologist, said the system started in northern Mexico and travelled across Texas, bringing “severe thunderstorms” with it.
“It’s drawing in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and then pulling down that cold arctic air from northern Canada and the combo of the two creates these rather intense storms,” McEwen said.
As we head into the weekend, the storm is expected to travel across the U.S., bringing snow to cities like New York, which according to McEwen were previously in a “snow drought.”
This winter storm is predicted to continue north, into central and northwestern Ontario. Heavier snow is expected for areas along the Great Lakes by Saturday.
“Saturday into Sunday, Ottawa, Montreal, you’re going to wake up with a fresh blanket of snow,” McEwen said.
Into the day on Sunday, the storm is likely to impact the Fundy Coast in New Brunswick, southern Nova Scotia and parts of P.E.I.
Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for southern Nova Scotia, with the potential for five to 20 centimetres of snow on Sunday.
Depending on how much moisture the storm picks up from the Atlantic Ocean, snow totals could range from five centimetres to 10 for the rest of the Maritimes, McEwen said.
“The challenge with snowfall totals is that they’re notoriously inaccurate more than 48 hours out,” she said. “So it’s difficult to kind of pin down exactly what we’ll see.”
RAIN AND SNOW OUT WEST
A rainfall warning for 40 to 50 millimetres was issued by Environment Canada on the West Coast Friday morning.
The communities of Qualicum Beach and Fanny Bay on Vancouver Island can expect heavy downpours that could cause flash floods, the agency warned.
The same Pacific frontal system was forecast to bring rain to Howe Sound on the mainland on Friday, Environment Canada said.
Further north along the Sea to Sky Highway and around Whistler, precipitation is expected to switch over to snow.
Totals could be around 15 centimetres for Whistler and more than 20 centimetres along some stretches of the Sea to Sky Highway.
A skier walks down a patchy ski slope at Whistler, B.C., on Friday, December 29, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns)
The system is likely to pass over the area by early Saturday morning, according to the forecast.
The regions of West Kootenay and North Columbia are also expected to be impacted by the Pacific system, as pressure drops over Friday bringing similar snow totals inland.
EXTREME COLD
The same Pacific frontal system impacting B.C. is clashing with high pressure over the Arctic, bringing “strong wind,” a blizzard warning for Dempster, Yukon, read.
An arctic airmass is expected to “settle over” the Old Crow, Yukon, area bringing “bitterly cold wind chills,” an Environment Canada warning read.
Residents of that area were warned to expect daytime and overnight temperatures to drop between -35 and -40 C.
“The cold temperatures combined with wind up to 15 km/h will produce wind chills near minus 50 at times,” an extreme cold warning read.
The Aklavik Region in Yukon is also under an extreme cold warning on Friday.
The cold air is stretching across to northern Manitoba and Ontario where the areas of Tadoule Lake and Fort Severn are under another extreme cold warning.
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