A change in air currents is expected to help soften the blow from a healthy dose of winter weather in Halifax – sort of.
Environment Canada ended a snowfall warning for the Halifax area at 4 p.m. Sunday, replacing it with a freezing rain warning.
Up to 40 centimetres of snow was expected by the time the snow was to end on Monday afternoon, but meterologist Jean-Marc Couturier said warm air “wrapped around” the offshore system on Sunday, bringing more rain than was expected.
“So it’s a different type of scenario and we’ve made the adjustment as the situation evolved,” he said.
The forecast was calling for freezing rain Sunday night, changing back to snow for Monday morning. Monday’s forecast also calls for winds reaching 40 and gusting 70 kilometres per hour in the afternoon. Due to the storm, Halifax Regional School Board announced that all schools were closed, with board offices scheduled to open for 11 a.m.
The temperature was also expected to fall overnight, and Couturier said that would create treacherous conditions for the Monday commute.
“We’re not expecting the temperature to drop to well below freezing until later on (Monday) morning and afternoon,” he said. “But it will drop below zero, so that will create some more icing problems.”
On Sunday, about 10 centimetres of snow fell around HRM before changing over to rain.
Halifax police dealt with a few dozen calls for motor vehicle accidents on Sunday, including one that ended with a truck on a frozen lake.
RCMP Const. Tammy Lobb said the accident was reported around 12:25 p.m. Sunday.
“A Ford pickup truck travelling outbound on the Waverley Road…lost control and left the road, going onto Lake William,” she said.
Firefighters and paramedics responded to the scene, but the truck didn’t break the ice, and the driver wasn’t seriously hurt.
Lobb said RCMP responded to a steady string of motor vehicle accidents throughout the day, starting around 7:15 a.m.
Halifax Regional Police responded to 16 by late afternoon, none of which involved serious injuries.
With more uncertain weather in store, Lobb urged morning commuters to plan for the conditions.
“Leave yourself lots of time to get to work or school or wherever you need to be,” she said. — Metro News
