Storm creates treacherous driving, hampers power restoration

A no-travel advisory for the Trans-Canada Highway between Centreville and the Quebec border has been lifted,but driving conditions remain treacherous as another snowstorm continues to hammer the province, leaving thousands without electricity.

Brun-Way, which maintains the highway, is urging motorists to take precautions.

"The temperature is going to be between minus one to two overnight," said spokeswoman Felicia Murphy. "It's not going to be a flash-freeze situation, but there's definitely potential for some freezing on the asphalt tonight."

The snow and slush-covered roads are also hampering NB Power's efforts to restore power to more than11,000 homes and businesses, according to spokeswoman Marie-Andree Bolduc.

"Our crews are dealing with a tricky driving situation. Roads are blocked in some areas. So they are definitely working as fast as they can, but it's still a bit tricky out there," she said.

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Environment Canadahas kept snowfall warnings in place for central and northern New Brunswickfor a second consecutive day.

A low pressure system is expected to bring up to 25cm of snow to those regionsand heavy rain to theFundycoast throughout the day.

Environment Canada is asking people to "be on the lookout for adverse weather conditions."

Snowfall warnings are in place for:

• Carleton County
• Stanley-Doaktown-Blackville
• Kent County
• Victoria County
• Mount Carleton
• Miramichi
• Madawaska County
• Restigouche County
• Bathurst and the Chaleur region

"Heavy snow over central and northern parts of the province will gradually mix with rain for more southern areas," according to Environment Canada.

The Fundy coast will see mostly rain today, while snow may be mixed with rain for the Acadian Peninsula, but snowfall warnings may be necessary.

• Boil water order issued for parts of Saint John
• How much snow did you get on Wednesday? Snowfall totals listed

"In addition there is a risk of flooding due to rough and pounding surf combined with higher than normal water levels from Lower Escuminac north to the Acadian Peninsula and into the Bay of Chaleur," said the statement.

"The main risk is near high tide on Thursday night and again near high tide Friday Morning."

More power woes

The number of power outages across the province stood at 11,363 as of 6:20p.m. AT,according to the NBPower website.

The bulk of the outages are in the Victoria-Madawaska area with 3,703homes andbusinesses affected. In Central YorkSunbury, 2,444 customers arewithout electricity, and 2,082 in Sackville Port Elgin.

"We do expect the vast majority of customers affected by Wednesday's snowstorm to be restored by tonight," said NB Power's Deborah Nobesin an email.

"As customers are restored in southern and central New Brunswick, crews are being relocated to areas affected by this latest weather system."

The utility had 167 crews deployed late Thursday afternoon, along with another 25 that arrived to help in the northern part of the province.

Nobes saidcrews made good progress overnight Wednesdayrestoring power after a peak of about 45,000 customers without electricity.

Nobes said crews are seeing some complex outages related the the weight of the "sticky, wet, concretesnow" on trees and lines.

"Some of these incidents can take time to restore and we appreciate the continued patience our customers are showing as we work through the effects of these weather systems."

'Cold load pickup' problem

Nobes said some outages Thursday were caused by an effect known as 'cold load,' which is the amount of electricity customers demand when areas get their power back after it being off for an extended period of time.

"In some cases, this results in greater sudden demand, and shortly after the electricity is restored, circuit breakers automatically trip to protect the system from overload and the power goes off again," said Nobes.

The main cause of the problem is the large number of heaters and furnaces coming on at the same time.

NB Power is asking customers without power to turn down their heat and unplug items to try and avoid a second outage from the "cold load" effect once power is restored.

"When the electricity is restored, we ask customers to slowly turn up the heat to a comfortable level and minimize plugging in appliances and devices so our system can settle out after restoration," said Nobes.

New Brunswick forecast

Northern New Brunswick

Today: Flurries this morning, changing to snow, at times heavy, with 20 cm expected. Winds will be from the east at 20 km/h with a high of 1 C. Rain is expected along the northeast coast along with easterly winds gusting to 50 km/h.

Tonight: Snow, at times heavy, changing to a few flurries this evening but not ending until after midnight with 2 to 4 cm of snow expected. On the northeast coast 10 mm of rain will mix with the snow. Temperature will be steady near 1 C.

Friday: Cloudy with rain showers or flurries along the northeast coast and a high of 2 C.

Fredericton and area

Today: A few flurries this morning changing to snow, at times heavy, this morning then to periods of rain near noon with a high of 2 C.Snowfall amounts of 15 cm are expected except over southern sections which may only see 5 cm along with 10 to 15 mm of rain.

Tonight: Rain will end this evening then skies will clear with a low of 0 C.

Friday: Expect a mix of sun and cloud with a high of 3 C.

Southern New Brunswick

Today: In the southeast wet snow will begin this morning changing to rain by early in the afternoon. Snowfall amounts of 5 to 10 cm and rainfall amounts of 10 to 15 mm are expected with a high of 6 C. In the southwest rain will be heavy at times this morning with 20 to 30 mm expected and winds gusting to 70 km/h with a high of 9 C.

Tonight: Rain ending early this evening then mainly cloudy with winds from the east at 20 km/h, gusting to 40 km/h on the Fundy coast and a low of 1 C.

Friday: A mix of sun and cloud with winds from the west at 30 km/h, becoming northwest at 20 km/h early in the afternoon and a high between2 C and 4 C.

Schools closed again

Schools were closed in some areas of the province on Thursday, including:

• Anglophone North schools inBathurst,Campbellton, Dalhousie andMiramichi.
• Anglophone West, all schools.
• Francophone North-East schools inBathurst,Campbellton,Caraquet, Dalhousie, Shippagan, Tracadie and Neguac.
• Francophone North-West, all schools.
• Francophone South schools in Fredericton,Oromocto, St. Louis,Rogersville,BaieSainteAnne andMiramichi.
• Fredericton Christian Academy.
• Our Lady of Grace Catholic School.
• River Valley Christian Academy.
• RiverviewHigh School.

Post-secondary institutions were also impacted with theEdmundstoncampus of the University of Moncton andNBCC'sFredericton,MiramichiandWoodstockcampuses closing for the day. St. Thomas University and the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton closed at 10 a.m.

Winter Storm hits New Brunswick

8 years ago

Duration 1:55

Pictures from Moncton and Fredericton during New Brunswick's first winter storm of the season