Many malls, businesses closed as storm brings snow, freezing rain to the Maritimes

Many schools, shopping malls, businesses and offices were closed across the Maritimes Friday as a slow-moving system brings heavy snow, rain and freezing rain to the region.

All schools were closed across New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Friday.

All schools were closed in Nova Scotia, except for those in the Tri-County Regional Centre for Education, where only Digby County classes were cancelled for the day. Schools in Yarmouth and Shelburne counties dismissed students two hours early.

Most Maritimers didn't receive their mail Friday, as Canada Post suspended delivery in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia due to freezing rain. Service was also been suspended in Bathurst, N.B. and southern New Brunswick. Canada Post said service could be delayed in northern and eastern New Brunswick, due to snow.

Many New Brunswickers and Islanders awoke to heavy snowfall Friday morning while Nova Scotians were dealing with rain, freezing rain and wet and icy roads.

“New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island will remain on the colder, snowy side of the system on Friday, though some ice pellets may mix in on the Bay of Fundy coastline and for eastern P.E.I.,” explained CTV Atlantic’s chief meteorologist, Kalin Mitchell.

“Nova Scotia can expect a prolonged period of icy weather Friday into Saturday morning, including freezing rain and ice pellets.”

Mitchell said parts of central and southeastern New Brunswick and much of P.E.I. could see up to 50 centimetres of snow, while some parts of mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton could see up to 30 centimetres.

“A lighter mix of snow, ice pellets, and freezing rain may persist for Atlantic areas of Nova Scotia into Saturday morning before clearing in the afternoon. Flurries are expected for New Brunswick and P.E.I. Saturday morning,” said Mitchell.

Environment Canada has issued a number of winter storm, rainfall and freezing rain warnings in Nova Scotia. In New Brunswick, snowfall and winter storm warnings are in effect. Winter storm warnings are also in effect on P.E.I.

ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION

The wet and wintry weather affected roads and transit systems across the region Friday. The RCMP in New Brunswick said Friday morning that roads were snow-covered and conditions were deteriorating across the province. Police were urging residents to drive for the conditions, or stay home if possible.

City buses were pulled from the roads for the day in Moncton, N.B., and Saint John, N.B. Buses were running in Fredericton, but delays in service were expected.

"Ideally we're going to clean everything up when the snow has stopped, but in a storm like this, where it's going to extend over a 48 hour period, we're going to have to plow multiple times. So, there's no one plow that clean this one up," says Mike Walker, with the city of Fredericton.

In Nova Scotia, many motorists were dealing with wet and icy roads, while the Cobequid Pass was partly snow-covered. The Nova Scotia Department of Works said it was passable “with extreme caution.”

The department says 400 pieces of snow and ice-clearing equipment will continue to operate across Nova Scotia until the roads are clear.

In Halifax, city buses and ferries stopped running at 11 a.m. Friday. The Halifax Regional Municipality says the overnight winter parking ban will be enforced from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday. Vehicles must be off the roads at that time.

There was no bus service in Kentville, N.S., and Transit Cape Breton said Friday morning that service would be delayed until road conditions improved. Transit Cape Breton resumed service by 2 p.m.

Transit PEI cancelled service for the day, while T3 Transit in Charlottetown and surrounding areas stopped service Friday afternoon.

Bay Ferries cancelled Friday’s sailings out of Saint John, N.B., and Digby, N.S.

POWER OUTAGES

Close to 12,500 Nova Scotia Power customers across the province were without electricity as of 3 p.m. Friday. That number had jumped to 46,524 by 9:45 p.m. According to the outage map, most of the outages are due to freezing rain.

Nova Scotia Power says it activated its Emergency Operations Centre at 7 a.m. Friday in advance of the storm, which it noted is the fifth major winter storm to hit the province in the last four weeks.

With freezing rain, snow and ice pellets in the forecast, the utility was warning customers Thursday that outages were possible.

NB Power was not reporting any outages as of 9:45 p.m., as well as Maritime Electric on P.E.I.

CLOSURES

Many businesses and offices, including provincial government offices in Nova Scotia, were closed Friday.

Some of the region’s largest shopping malls, including Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth, N.S., the Halifax Shopping Centre, Confederation Court Mall in Charlottetown, and Champlain Mall in Dieppe, N.B., also decided to close.

The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation said several of its locations delayed opening or closed their doors for the day due to the weather conditions.

Several NB Liquor and PEI Liquor stores were also closed Friday.