The stormy weather has been the story for much of Eastern Newfoundland today, with snowfall and high winds coming through as forecasted.
Heavy snow began falling late Friday night before easing off this morning, and then ramping up again this afternoon, forcing the shutdown of most events, services and businesses, including Metrobus and the Avalon Mall.
As of 1:30, more than 20 centimetres of snow was recorded at St. John’s International Airport with an estimated 20 to 30 more expected before the system moves out overnight.
St. John's east reporting 23cm of snow as of 2:30pm (+4.7cm in the last hour).
No report from St. John's Airport #YYT. Previous report from 1:30pm was 24cm.#NLwx pic.twitter.com/MoV8BZiO8y
— Kelly Butt (@kellymbutt) January 21, 2023
The weather has also contributed to a number of accidents but no serious injuries have been reported. Flights have also been delayed or cancelled due to the storm.
High winds gusting up to 80 kilometres an hour will continue to hamper visibility and make for treacherous driving conditions this evening.
Environment Canada’s Rodney Barney says the good news is things should clear out by early Sunday.
“It does look like conditions will be improving rather quickly tomorrow morning as the system moves off the east,” he said. “The snow will be tapering off early Sunday, making way for a mostly cloudy day with some flurries and winds that will ease off by afternoon.”
All in all, Barney says Sunday should be a decent day for the cleanup.
“That said, I do recommend, if you’re able, to try breaking the cleanup into chunks because it will be a lot of snow to deal with if we wait around till it’s all said and done on Sunday.”
Some afternoon updates on driving conditions showing travel is not recommended on some Avalon Peninsula highways.
👉 https://t.co/y9b28nLQKx #nltraffic #GovNL https://t.co/RhBP94ZxWy pic.twitter.com/fViGaLStR8— Transportation and Infrastructure NL (@TI_GovNL) January 21, 2023
Due to current and forecasted weather conditions, we will not be operating today. Regular service resumes on Sunday morning. #nlwx
— Metrobus Transit (@MetrobusTransit) January 21, 2023
A full look at cancellations and delays can be found on the VOCM Storm Watch Page
