Flights cancelled on P.E.I. as up to 40 cms of snow possible

As much as 40 centimetres of snow could be on the ground by early Friday morning, meteorologists say.

Though as of 8 p.m. Thursday Islanders were bracing for the storm to hit, CBC meteorologist Kalin Mitchell was still predicting at least 25 centimetres overnight.

Flights were cancelled at the Charlottetown airport Thursday night and early Friday morning.

Environment Canada was forecasting about 20 cms for the Island, but CBC meteorologist Brennan Allen said he wouldn't be surprised if if was closer to 30 or 40 cm.

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Given the high winds which could peak at 100 km/h Allen said the final amount will be difficult to measure, laying out this possible scenario.

"Your neighbour is going to be lucky and get no snow in his driveway, and you're going to end up with a 120- to 150-centimetre drift in your driveway and you're going to be trapped," he said.

"That's the kind of storm we're dealing with."

Blowing snow

Kings County is under a storm surge warning for high tide Friday.

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Environment Canada is warning higher water levels and pounding waves could cause damage along northwest facing coastlines, and there could be flooding along the shoreline, as well.

Allen also warned that temperatures will be colder for this storm.

There will be no mix of precipitation all snow and wind chills will hit dangerous levels, dropping to around -30 C.

"You're not going to want to be out in the storm at all,"said Brennan. "If you get trapped out on the roads there's a serious danger of hypothermia."

• Have a look at this week's wild temperature swings

Flights cancelled

Even when the snow stops falling, travel will be difficult with high winds and blowing snow all day Friday, Allen said.

The Atlantic Beef Products plant in Albany says it's shutting down Friday and will operate on Saturday instead.

'Much, much more intense'

Thursday night's storm is expected to be much worse than the relatively mild storm on Wednesday.

That storm dropped seven centimetres of snow in Charlottetown and a little bit of freezing rain in parts of the province.

"This storm is much, much more intense and will be delivering very strong winds and a lot of snow to Prince Edward Island," Allen said.

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