Parts of the Maritimes left with 100 cm as epic snowfall eases on Monday

Only a small part of a home in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality is visible on Feb. 5, 2024, after extreme amounts of snow fell in the area. (Kyle Moore/CTV Atlantic)

The weekend snowstorm of February 3 and 4 brought a record amount of snow down for parts of the Maritimes.

The Sydney Airport set records for daily snowfall on both February 3 with 41 cm and February 4 with 35 cm reported.

The Charlottetown Airport set a record for daily snowfall on a February 3 with 30 cm reported.

Halifax International Airport set a record for daily snowfall on a February 4 with 38 cm reported.

That is just a sampling of daily records. Other locations in eastern mainland Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and Prince Edward Island almost assuredly set some daily record snow amounts for February 3 and 4.

Overall snow totals range 40 to 70 cm across a large part of central and eastern Nova Scotia as well as central and eastern Prince Edward Island. A few reports of 100+ cm have come in from the volunteer observers of the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, & Snow Network including 105 cm at Spanish Ship Bay and 150 cm at Sydney N.S.

Preliminary and unofficial snow reports from the weekend snowstorm across for the Maritime provinces. (CTV/Kalin Mitchell)The gusty north wind that accompanied the days long snow created extensive blowing snow and drifts which can make accurate measurements of the total amount of snow very difficult. There is little doubt the overall snow totals that we saw this weekend rank high with some of the heavier historic snow events seen in the region.

A few that come to mind are the winter of 2014/2015, when a quick hitting series of storms brought snow totals of more than 80 cm in a matter of days to parts of Nova Scotia. White Juan in February of 2004 brought a widespread 60-90 cm to parts of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island with unofficial reports as high as 100 to 150 cm. The February blizzard of 1992 which left 160 cm of snow for Moncton and amounts around 70 cm in parts of Cape Breton.

The heaviest of the snow has passed. Remaining areas of lighter snow and flurries will continue to ease Monday night through Tuesday. Some further localized snow amounts of one-to-five centimetres possible in the light snow and flurries.

A gusty northerly wind continues to create areas of drifting snow. The wind will continue to diminish into Tuesday and any occurrences of drifting snow with it.

No further heavy snow is in the forecast for the remainder of the week. The next more widespread round of precipitation to arrive for the Maritimes is a mix of snow and rain next Sunday.