Storm will bring strong winds, snow and rain to the Maritimes on Wednesday

A low brewing in the southern U.S. will cross North America over the next few days bringing a messy mix of snow, rain, ice and strong winds.

The storm will arrive in the Maritimes on Wednesday and looks set to pack a punch.

On the leading edge of the storm, we’ll see snow moving into the region from west to east throughout Wednesday morning, which may lead to slick travel conditions for most people.

As temperatures rise throughout the day, we’ll see the snow mixing and changing to ice pellets and rain across Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and southern New Brunswick. 

Across central and northern New Brunswick, the snow and ice pellets will add up with accumulations of 10 to 30 centimetres looking likely. 

The highest rainfall totals are expected along the Atlantic coastline where 15 to 30 millimetres looks likely, with locally higher totals.

While the snow, ice and rain will have an impact, the strong winds will likely be the biggest issue.

Widespread southerly wind gusts of 80 to 110 km/h are possible for Nova Scotia and P.E.I. as well as southern New Brunswick and the Acadian Peninsula. Gusts of 60 to 80 km/h are looking more likely across the rest of northern New Brunswick while gusts exceeding 120 km/h are expected in Les Suêtes winds in Cape Breton. 

Thankfully, this is a quick moving storm and so the strongest winds will be limited to a six- to eight-hour period as the storm blows through on Wednesday.

Regardless, winds of this strength are likely to cause some power outages and you should prepare by ensuring all your electronic devices are charged up and your emergency kits are ready to go.

Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued special weather statements for the Maritimes ahead of the storm.