HALIFAX—A March winter storm is forecast to hit this weekend and bring with it some significant snowfall.
Early on Saturday, Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning for Halifax and many other parts of mainland Nova Scotia, saying that heavy snow was likely to begin Saturday afternoon and continue into the evening.
About 15 centimetres of snow was expected for most areas, “with higher amounts possible in the west and along the Atlantic Coast,” the weather warning stated.
But by Saturday afternoon, Environment Canada had upgraded the snowfall amounts for the Halifax region, and changed the snowfall warning to a winter storm warning, which now includes most of mainland Nova Scotia.
The new warning said snowfall amounts of between 15 and 25 centimetres were now forecast for most of mainland Nova Scotia, with some southern areas of the province getting up to 40 centimetres.
Gusty winds were also expected for overnight Saturday.
“Consider postponing non-essential travel until conditions improve,” this latest warning read.
On Saturday morning, Halifax Regional Municipality said it would enforce the overnight parking ban to allow crews to clear streets and sidewalks. Vehicles must be off municipal streets between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday or risk being ticketed or towed.
Snow should taper off by Sunday morning, the weather warning said, but it could be a short reprieve.
If the storm comes as forecasted, it could be the largest single-day snowfall for Halifax this winter.
A Feb. 13 storm brought 21.2 centimetres of snow and a New Year’s Day storm brought 17.4 centimetres.
In a separate weather statement, Environment Canada said the weekend storm was one of two low pressure systems heading for the Maritimes, with the second one approaching on Monday.
The statement said Haligonians should expect snow to start Monday morning with the second system and continue into Monday night. Precipitation could change to freezing rain throughout the day.