Newfoundlanders are digging out early and often on Friday as a two-day winter storm threatens to drop 85 centimetres of snow over some parts of the province.
Forecasters with Environment Canada in Newfoundland and Labrador say anywhere from 55 to 85 centimetres of snow will land in the St. John’s area by Saturday morning, when the snow will finally move off shore.
A mix of snow, ice pellets and freezing rain will keep hitting the southeast portion of N.L., south of the capital city.
Schools closed across the province, along with provincial and municipal government offices. Even some health care centres providing non-urgent services have shut down.
The Metrobus service in the St. John’s area was taken off the road Friday morning.
The snow mixed with ice pellets overnight in St. John’s, leaving a challenging cleanup for residents.
Bernice Stamp shovels her driveway near the colourful houses of Catherine Street in downtown St. John's.
With just about everything shut down, downtown resident Kenny Hanlon said he didn’t have anywhere to go on Friday morning — but he was outside cleaning up his driveway nonetheless.
“It’s just trying to stay on top of it because if you let it get up too high, you’ll be here all day, all night,” he said.
“It’s just crazy, it’s so heavy, it’s like shoveling sand.”
The storm has plunged many parts of N.L. back into the depths of winter. The province had seen relatively mild temperatures with significant snowmelt over the past number of days.
“As soon as we start to get rid of it, it comes back again,” Hanlon said.
Down the street, Bernice Stamp was working to clear the front of her downtown townhouse on Friday morning — and working to keep an upbeat attitude.
“The snow is not too bad, right? It’s not like cement, so at least you can move it,” she said. She figured the accumulation was about as heavy as sugar, not as heavy as sand.
Every flight arriving and departing the St. John’s Airport was cancelled on Friday, with nothing expected to arrive until after the snow stopped on Saturday morning.
Meteorologists say the snow will continue until about 10 a.m. on Saturday, although winds will continue to gust up to 70 km/h throughout Saturday.