P.E.I. dodged a major winter blizzard on Monday, according to Environment Canada.
However parts of the province will still see heavy winds and blowing snow to start off the first full week of February.
Throughout the weekend, Canada’s national weather service was bracing Islanders for a major winter storm.
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By Sunday, Environment Canada had posted blizzard warnings for Queens and Kings counties.
But by late Sunday, the blizzard warnings were dropped.
Environment Canada has maintained a wind warning for all three counties.
Strong northwest winds could gust to 90 kilometres an hour, up to 100 kilometres an hour in Kings County. The strongest winds will hit Monday afternoon.
Jean-Marc Couturier, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, admitted this storm was a difficult one to track.
“We had decided to issue the blizzard warning for P.E.I. because of the fact there would be a good snowfall Sunday afternoon and Sunday night, then the winds would pick up [Monday] morning,” Couturier said Sunday night.
“Although the precipitation and the winds were not going to be concurrent, the end result from the snowfall would be enough to create the blizzard conditions. As it turns out, the air has become quite a bit warmer and we’ll get rain and freezing rain.”
Still, Couturier said winds are going to be strong which may disrupt travel, especially on the Confederation Bridge and at Charlottetown Airport.
The Confederation Bridge was warning that restrictions may be necessary for most of the day Monday.
“We had decided to issue the blizzard warning for P.E.I. because of the fact there would be a good snowfall Sunday afternoon and Sunday night, then the winds would pick up [Monday] morning,” - Jean-Marc Couturier, a meteorologist with Environment Canada
The low-pressure system developed south of Nova Scotia and intensified as it passed east of Cape Breton.
Snowfall amounts of 5 to 15 centimetres were expected with higher amounts over eastern portions of the Island.
High winds were expected to generate pounding surf on the North Coast of the Island on Monday, especially over eastern portions of the Island.
Couturier said lower tide cycles means the threat of storm surges is low.
The rest of the week looks like sunny skies and cold temperatures.
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… Stay with The Guardian for the latest on this storm system throughout the day and on Monday.
