Heavy snowfall continues in the Maritimes; delays, closures and cancellations piling up

As large amounts of snow continue to batter parts of the Maritimes from the slow moving weather system on Sunday, some schools have closed for Monday, with the list on closures and cancellations growing.

Snowfall warnings are still in effect Sunday for parts of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, with some parts expected to see an additional 30 to 50 centimetres of snow.

Environment Canada is forecasting an additional 15 to 25 centimetres of snow for central Nova Scotia. That area also has a blowing snow advisory, which warns of high winds blowing snow around causing poor visibility.

The Halifax Regional Municipality as well as the Halifax Regional Police are asking people to avoid travel unless absolutely necessary, as whiteout conditions are present in some areas.

“(It’s) dangerous for people to be on the roads and our crews are having a hard time you know obviously keeping up because they've been going 24/7 but the storm is not settled and it has not stopped at all,” says Halifax’s emergency management director, Erica Fleck.

“They can't even fit down streets because of the number of cars parked on both sides of the streets. So if they can't then they have to back out and you know go back the way they came and not even get to that street,” says Fleck. 

Areas of northern Nova Scotia are expected to see around 15 to 25 centimetres of snow which will continue into Monday, before tapering to flurries throughout the day. Environment Canada warns that conditions will deteriorate later Sunday, and visibility may be reduced to near zero at times of heavy and blowing snow.

Eastern Nova Scotia is expected to see the worse of it, as environment Canada says the area will see around 30 to 50 centimetres of snow, which will continue into Monday. Conditions are also expected to deteriorate further in the day Sunday, as winds and snowfall will intensify, and visibility will be reduced.

“There are people who have not been able to get out, and they might not be physically able to get out and move the snow, and like I said the snow is more than halfway up my patio door and you just can't just push that open,” said CBRM Mayor, Amanda MacDougall. 

"We've never seen this much snow in a short period of time, and I think that's really problematic and that's what we are dealing with here. It was so fast and furious and it's not done unfortunately," Macdougall added.

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality has declared a local state of emergency urging residents to stay off the roads as crews work to clear road ways.

Cape Breton Police are asking people to avoid driving unless absolutely necessary, as they say they have received multiple calls of stuck vehicles in roadways blocking snow removal and access for emergency vehicles.

Winter storm warnings have also been issued for Kings and Queens Counties in P.E.I., which is expected to see an additional 15 to 35 centimetres. The highest amounts of snowfall in that region is expected over eastern P.E.I., where they may see up to 35 centimetres. Parts of Queens County may only see 15 centimetres by Monday morning.

Travel

Halifax Transit suspended services until 12 p.m., including busses, ferries, and Access-A-Bus.

The parking ban in Halifax will also continue all day Sunday as crews work to clean up snow, and will continue overnight into Monday.

Transit services in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality were also cancelled all day Sunday due to the weather, and will also be cancelled for Monday..

The Fundy Rose ferry has changed departure times for Monday due to the weather, with the new Saint John departure at 11:30 a.m., and Digby at 3 p.m.

A number of flights at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport were also cancelled or delayed, leaving many frustrated travellers. 

“I knew I wasn't going to be able to drive up today so I drove up yesterday to make it for a morning flight which was cancelled and so now I’m flying out tomorrow evening at 5 p.m.,” says Elizabeth Mcguane, who was hoping to fly out of the airport Sunday. 

A group of missionaries scheduled to leave for a humanitarian trip to Cuba on Sunday morning also had their flights delayed, saying there hasn't been any updates on when they will be departing.

“We’re waiting to go. It was a packed aircraft, and we're still waiting, and it's not the first airline that flew out so why can't we fly out,” says Ron Reid, who was part of the group.

Power

Power outages have been scattered across the region, with the majority being in Nova Scotia.

As of 8 p.m. Sunday, Nova Scotia Power is reporting 137 active outages, around 5,747 customers without power.

NB Power is reporting 1 outage affecting around 105 customers as of 8 p.m., the majority of which are in Miramichi, which would likely not be a result of the storm.

In P.E.I., Maritime Electric is reporting 74 customers without power as of 8 p.m. Sunday.

Closures and cancellations

The by-election for District 19 in P.E.I. scheduled on Monday may be postponed if the conditions do not improve by Monday Morning. 

The Halifax Shopping Centre, Sunnyside Mall, and Mic Mac Mall in Nova Scotia have all closed for the day Sunday.

Irving Shipbuilding has also closed all day and afternoon shifts for the day, with updates regarding back shift to come later Sunday evening.

Sunday’s game between Grand Falls Rapids and the Pictou Country Weeks Crushers at the Pictou County Wellness Centre has been postponed due to the weather.

The game Sunday between the Amherst Ramblers and Truro Bearcats at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre was also postponed to 7 p.m. on Tuesday due to the weather.

School closures

All HRCE schools will also be closed on Monday to allow for cleanup. All three locations of Edward Jost Children's Centre will be closed Monday as well. 

The Chignecto-Central Regional Centre for Education and the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education will also be closed for Monday due to the forecast and road conditions. 

Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax is closed Sunday, with all on-campus activities for the day beig cancelled.

NSCAD University has also decided to keep all campuses closed Sunday.

St. Francis Xavier will also remain closed Sunday.

NSCC has closed a number of campuses, including the Institute of Technology, Ivany Campus, Aviation Institute, and Marconi Campus until Monday. The Pictou Campus has been closed until Tuesday.

All Cape Breton University location will be closed on Sunday. 

The University of Prince Edward Island has remained closed for Sunday due to the weather, but the AVC Veterinary Teaching Hospital will remain open for emergencies.

With files from CTV's Hafsa Arif and Jesse Thomas.