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Heavy snow and strong winds pummeled the Avalon Peninsula on Sunday. Thousands of people are experiencing power outages and many facilities in the metro region are closed due to the severe weather conditions.
Newfoundland Power wrote on social media that blizzard conditions are impacting the electrical system on the eastern part of the island.
The utility company wrote that crews are responding to outages where it is safe for them to do so, but in some areas, roads are impassable. They are also advising to check the outage centre on the Newfoundland Power website for updates.
Almost 1500 customers in Kelligrews and hundreds of customers in other parts of the metro region are experiencing outages.
Over 200 customers on Salmonier Line, and almost 500 in Heart’s Content-New Perlican are also without power.
Earlier on Sunday, thousands of customers lost power in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s and on the Burin Peninsula. Those outages appear to be restored.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary are also warning of poor road conditions in the metro region.
“Crews are working to clear the roads but are experiencing whiteout conditions due to strong winds. If you don’t need to be out, we suggest staying inside until conditions improve,” wrote the RNC on social media.
As a result, the City of St. John’s closed roads in the Galway area and part of Cochrane Pond Road due to drifting snow and poor visibility.
WATCH | Stormy conditions persist in St. John’s on Sunday afternoon:
St. John’s hit with another winter storm, causing closures, power outages, and more
A winter storm has left much of the metro region buried under snow as high winds blow through the region. The stormy conditions have also caused a number of power outages in the eastern part of the island.
The RCMP also advised people to stay home because of the poor road conditions across the island.
The weather also caused a wide array of closures in the region. Several watch parties for the Olympic gold medal hockey game were cancelled.
Conditions also impacted services at the Urgent Care Centre on Stavanger Drive in St. John’s. N.L. Health services wrote on social media that the facility will remain closed for the rest of the day.
The City of St. John’s, Mount Pearl and the town of Conception Bay South have closed all recreation facilities for the day.
Metrobus and GoBus services are cancelled for the rest of the day.
Snow and wind to continue
Environment Canada meteorologist Veronica Sullivan told CBC News Sunday morning the snow will continue throughout the day, but with gradual improvement.
On the Avalon, “we can expect another 15 centimeters of snow in addition to what has already fallen,” said Sullivan.
She said stations in Paradise reported that 30 centimeters of snow had fallen so far, while the St. John’s Airport reported 15 centimeters.
As for the winds, Sullivan said they are expected to stay very strong.
“They’ll continue to be from the north 80 km/h up to 100 km/h. So the visibility will be greatly reduced,” she said. “Definitely not a day to be out traveling if you can avoid that.”
Environment Canada put an orange winter storm warning in place for the southeastern portion of Avalon peninsula, Sunday morning, as another 10 to 15 centimeters were expected to fall and high winds were expected to continue.
Environment Canada has winter storm and wind warnings in place for portions of Newfoundland. (Environment Canada)
With winds expected to gust up to 100 km/h, Environment Canada put wind warnings in place for the metro region, the northern Avalon Peninsula, Bonvaista, the Clarenville area, Terra Nova, and Channel-Port Aux Basque.
Conditions are supposed to last until Sunday evening, except for Channel-Port Aux Basque where conditions could last until Tuesday morning.
Environment Canada also had blowing snow advisories from Grand Falls-Windsor all the way down to the Avalon Peninsula. But snowfall totals were expected to be a bit less said Sullivan.
The Green Bay-White Bay region had a winter storm warning in place, with two to four centimeters of snow expected to fall. Environment Canada expected it to end mid-day.
Southwestern Newfoundland also had a wind warning in place Sunday morning, with winds gusting up to 100 km/h, said Sullivan.
“That will continue most of the day,” she said. “But the good news for them is they’re not really expected to get much snow out of this system.”
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