ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — There are likely many aching backs and arms today in eastern parts of the province as the cleanup unfolded following a pounding of heavy snow that hit the region overnight Sunday and into Monday.
Up to 45 centimetres of snow fell on parts of eastern Newfoundland, accompanied by high winds and smashing tide.
The wind and snow knocked out power to a number of people, while schools, businesses, transportation services, health clinics, recreational facilities, and municipal and provincial government offices were shut down either for part of the day or the full day.
Roads continued to be hazardous for much of the day as snowclearing crews worked to clean up.
Another snow system is expected to move across the province Wednesday evening, but with lower amounts of snow predicted.
About 3,000 Newfoundland Power customers lost power over the course of the storm, largely on the Burin Peninsula. Some outages were reported on the Avalon, in the metro area and as far south as St. Shott’s, about 160 kilometres south of St. John’s.
Power was restored to those in St. John’s and the Ferryland area by 11 a.m. Monday.
About 1,100 people were without power on the Burin Peninsula until approximately 3 p.m., when crews were able to make repairs, in spite of poor road conditions and near-zero visibility in many areas.
Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro crews worked in the Barachoix area on the province’s south coast, as about 500 households were without power from 2-9:30 a.m. on Monday as a result of the storm.
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro says there were no issues with power generation during the storm.
Transportation impacted
On the transportation front, many flights in and out of St. John’s were cancelled or delayed until Monday afternoon or evening.
Most arrivals to Gander International Airport were delayed, and one originating from St. John’s was cancelled, but most departures ran on time.
🥉With 69cm of snow cover, today is #StJohns's 3rd deepest Jan 7th since records began in 1874. pic.twitter.com/FogskaPgR4
— StJohns Weather Records (@YYT_Weather) January 7, 2020
The Marine Atlantic ferry service was not affected, as the storm primarily affected eastern parts of the island. However, the Bell Island ferry service was delayed until the afternoon, with the first sailing from Bell Island to Portugal Cove shortly after 2 p.m.
The MV Qajaq ferry in the Labrador Straits was delayed until the afternoon due to gale-force wind warnings in the morning. The MV Marine Coaster III with service between South East Bight and Petite Forte was delayed due to poor weather, with service resuming at 4 p.m.
Meanwhile, transportation around the metro area also saw delays.
Metrobus and GoBus Accessible Transit service began at noon.
Jiffy Cabs posted on social media that taxi services would be offered throughout the day, but would not be there "in a jiffy" — noting roughly 20-minute wait times due to the poor driving conditions.
Best we can say for wait time is twenty minutes. Best thing is to "have the hat and jacket on and hope your Jiffy won't be long, if we can't get up your street, we'll wait down on the corner.." #sarahsarah #nltraffic
— Jiffy Cabs (@jiffycabs) January 6, 2020
City snowclearing crews aimed to have an initial pass on all streets by 2 a.m. Tuesday, followed by widening of snow on streets by 6 p.m. Tuesday, according to social media posts by the City of St. John’s.
However, road conditions didn’t seem to affect the DRL cross-island bus service. The company said it left St. John’s as scheduled Monday morning without any delays or issues.
SaltWire Network meteorologist Cindy Day said Tuesday there should be just a light dusting of snow that will be followed by a coastal low that will dump 10 to 15 centimetres of new snow on parts of the island starting Wednesday night.
“A Wednesday evening to Thursday morning system is starting to take shape over Nebraska,” Day said. “That’s going to bring us five to 10 centimetres on the Avalon, but as much as 10 cm to 15 cm of snow along the west coast, so this time Mother Nature will bring the heavier snowfalls to the western region of the island.”
Day said the next low will move in at the end of the week with very mild weather Saturday followed by snow again on Sunday.