The winter storm is working its way over the province.
From late Monday morning until before dawn on Tuesday, Environment Canada says most places will get between 15 and 25 cm of snow and winds up to 90 km/h.
Inverness County will see gusts much faster than everyone else, with some reaching up to 120 km/h.
Shelburne and Lunenburg counties will be wrestling with lots of both. Those spots could see about 30 cm of snow, with 50 cm possible in some spots depending on how the snow falls. And their wind gusts will hit about 80 km/h, and 100 km/h over exposed areas.
They have an orange weather warning, and snow could fall faster than 5 cm an hour at times Monday during the day and night.
Coastal flood warnings are in place for Shelburne, Queens, Lunenburg and Halifax counties. High tide this evening could reach 5 to 7 metres.
Bob Robichaud, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, says a strong pressure system is just off the coast of New England now and is just reaching the edge of the province Monday morning.
But as it moves, those bands of heavy snow will reach all areas of the province by mid-afternoon.
“Everybody’s going to get some reduced visibilities and blowing and drifting snow,” says Robichaud.
Nova Scotians will be dealing with whiteout conditions, he says. It will either be very, very difficult to see on the road or entirely impossible.
He says a lot of that snow will be wet and sticky. That coupled with the wind could make a mess of power outages.
“If you compare it to other events so far this winter, a lot of that heavier snow is going to fall when the winds are stronger, as opposed to lighter that they’ve been with other storms,” he says.
Thunder snow is another possibility as well in the areas with the heaviest snowfall, says Robichaud.
Most schools across the province were either closed or let students out early in anticipation of the snow. Municipal services are also likely to be affected.
In Halifax, the overnight parking ban is in place. That means you cannot park on the street between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.
The storm should end early Tuesday morning.
With files from Evan Taylor.
