There was little traffic on the streets of Charlottetown today as motorists heeded advisories to stay off the road so plow operators could deal with last weekend's winter windfall.
In a scenario that's become all too familiar and more than a little tedious, many people spent the day trying to dig themselves out from under.
RELATED: Islanders asked to remain patient while crews clean up record snowfall
Environment Canada meteorologist Linda Libby said today the Charlottetown area received the brunt of the storm, with 86.8 cm falling over a two-day period.
Of that number, 64.4 cm fell on Sunday and a further 22.4 cm on Monday.
Some have likened the latest storm to White Juan, which paralyzed the Island in February of 2004. But Libby said White Juan still holds the record for a 24-hour period.
"As a storm, this latest storm was worse than White Juan. But White Juan was a shorter, more intense storm, dumping 74.4 cm on the city in one day."
That's approximately 10 cm more than what the city received on Sunday.
Libby said the highest winds recorded during the long weekend were recorded at North Cape, where gusts reached 128 km/h. Summerside was not far behind with gusts of 115 km/h.
Libby said there was no accurate number available for Charlottetown, but not far away in Harrington winds were clocked at approximately 90 km/h.
Some areas of the province received significantly less snow on the weekend than Charlottetown. Wellington, for example, only received between 35 and 40 cm.
But Libby noted that area was hit by some weather systems that didn't impact as much on the Charlottetown area.
Several other communities had total snowfalls of between 50 and 60 cm.
Libby said there is another weather system headed for Prince Edward Island Thursday, which could bring with it as much as another 15 cm of snow.
Winds are estimated to be between 40 and 70 km per hour.
Libby said while those winds are not as high as those experienced on the weekend, they're strong enough to cause blowing snow from some of the higher existing drifts.
Environment Canada is also watching another system that could reach the Island on Sunday.
"We're not too clear on what that system could bring with it at this point," Libby said.
What is clear at this point is that the snow already on the ground is creating headaches for just about everyone.
All government offices were closed today.
All schools and many businesses were closed as well.
A number of social events scheduled for today were cancelled because people simply couldn't get there.
All flights into and out of the Charlottetown Airport were able to proceed but several flights were delayed.
Traffic on the Confederation Bridge was running smoothly today with no restrictions for those vehicles which could reach the bridge.
A spokesman for the RCMP said there were no major incidents on Island highways.
People, for the most part, were heeding advisories to stay off the road, said RCMP.
All city plows were out today, as were all of the contract plows.
The city also made arrangements to bring in additional heavy equipment.
A spokesman for the city's public works department said the snow has become compacted and is very hard, making it difficult for some of the lighter vehicles to pound their way through.
As to how long it will take city crews to clean up the latest snowfall, the spokesman noted White Juan took a week or more to clean up.
With the 84.4 cm of snow dumped on the city on the weekend, the total snowfall since Jan. 31 tops 200 cm — or 6.5 feet.
There was little traffic on the streets of Charlottetown today as motorists heeded advisories to stay off the road so plow operators could deal with last weekend's winter windfall.
In a scenario that's become all too familiar and more than a little tedious, many people spent the day trying to dig themselves out from under.
RELATED: Islanders asked to remain patient while crews clean up record snowfall
Environment Canada meteorologist Linda Libby said today the Charlottetown area received the brunt of the storm, with 86.8 cm falling over a two-day period.
Of that number, 64.4 cm fell on Sunday and a further 22.4 cm on Monday.
Some have likened the latest storm to White Juan, which paralyzed the Island in February of 2004. But Libby said White Juan still holds the record for a 24-hour period.
"As a storm, this latest storm was worse than White Juan. But White Juan was a shorter, more intense storm, dumping 74.4 cm on the city in one day."
That's approximately 10 cm more than what the city received on Sunday.
Libby said the highest winds recorded during the long weekend were recorded at North Cape, where gusts reached 128 km/h. Summerside was not far behind with gusts of 115 km/h.
Libby said there was no accurate number available for Charlottetown, but not far away in Harrington winds were clocked at approximately 90 km/h.
Some areas of the province received significantly less snow on the weekend than Charlottetown. Wellington, for example, only received between 35 and 40 cm.
But Libby noted that area was hit by some weather systems that didn't impact as much on the Charlottetown area.
Several other communities had total snowfalls of between 50 and 60 cm.
Libby said there is another weather system headed for Prince Edward Island Thursday, which could bring with it as much as another 15 cm of snow.
Winds are estimated to be between 40 and 70 km per hour.
Libby said while those winds are not as high as those experienced on the weekend, they're strong enough to cause blowing snow from some of the higher existing drifts.
Environment Canada is also watching another system that could reach the Island on Sunday.
"We're not too clear on what that system could bring with it at this point," Libby said.
What is clear at this point is that the snow already on the ground is creating headaches for just about everyone.
All government offices were closed today.
All schools and many businesses were closed as well.
A number of social events scheduled for today were cancelled because people simply couldn't get there.
All flights into and out of the Charlottetown Airport were able to proceed but several flights were delayed.
Traffic on the Confederation Bridge was running smoothly today with no restrictions for those vehicles which could reach the bridge.
A spokesman for the RCMP said there were no major incidents on Island highways.
People, for the most part, were heeding advisories to stay off the road, said RCMP.
All city plows were out today, as were all of the contract plows.
The city also made arrangements to bring in additional heavy equipment.
A spokesman for the city's public works department said the snow has become compacted and is very hard, making it difficult for some of the lighter vehicles to pound their way through.
As to how long it will take city crews to clean up the latest snowfall, the spokesman noted White Juan took a week or more to clean up.
With the 84.4 cm of snow dumped on the city on the weekend, the total snowfall since Jan. 31 tops 200 cm — or 6.5 feet.
