First school closures announced for Tuesday, road restrictions remain Monday night

Some schools in southern New Brunswick will close for the second day in a row after a major blizzard paralyzed parts of the province on Monday.

The Anglophone South and Anglophone Eastschool districts announced on Monday evening that schools will remain closed on Feb. 14.

Mount Allison University will also close for the morning on Tuesday but the campus will reopen at 12:30 p.m., with classes starting at 1 p.m.

Snow continued to fall well into the night as New Brunswickers in the central part of the province braced for roughly80 centimetres of snow.

Travel warning

Blizzard conditions also promptedthe province to issue a strict travel warning for southern and central areas.

"Until further notice travel on provincial highways and roads is restricted to emergency vehicles and essential service personnel," said the provincial government.

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Restrictions are in place for Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton districts, includingKent,Westmorland, Albert, Kings, Queens,Sunbury, York, Saint John and Charlotte counties.

The Trans-Canada Highway is closed betweenSackvilleand the Nova Scotia border until further notice because of poor visibility caused by high winds and blowing snow, according to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Highway 15 between Shediac and Port Elgin has also been closed due to poor visibility and drifting snow.

As well, snowplowingon other sections of Routes 1 and 2 has been suspended until conditions improve.

As of 6:45 p.m., the Confederation Bridge wasclosed to all traffic.

80 cm of snow expected

Uptown Saint John is snowed in due to Monday blizzard

8 years ago

Duration 0:46

A "dangerous and potentially lifethreatening blizzard" is pounding much of New Brunswick including Uptown Saint John.

Kalin Mitchell, a CBC meteorologist, said he expects 50 to 80 centimetres will fall in areas between Oromocto and Quispamsis.

Base Gagetown, just outside New Brunswick's capital city, already received 68 centimetres.Mitchell said 44 centimetresfell between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. AT.

"This is likely to be one of the hardest-hit areas for snowfall amounts from this storm," said Mitchell.

Flights have been cancelled until Tuesday at airports in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John.

Much of Fredericton was shut down on Monday as plows tried to keep main streets open.

But in spite of early warnings to stay off the roads, towing companies got a steady volume of calls from people who ventured out.

'Nobody needs to get hurt on a day like today'

Dr. Debbie Gowan treks to the hospital in Fredericton

8 years ago

Duration 1:00

It's a blizzard and much of Fredericton appears shuttered Monday. That said palliative care physician Dr. Debbie Gowan made her way in to see her patients on foot.

Allan MacPhee of Capital Towing said his company could not respond to many of the calls. He said they followed a "selective towing" protocol on Monday for the safety of their employees.

"Only those areas that are safe," he said."Only those places that we can get toand guarantee ourselves we can get back out of.

"Our employees are probably our biggest asset. Nobody needs to get hurt on a day like today. There's always tomorrow."

He estimates his trucks responded to about 25 per cent of the calls they received.

MacPhee said the majority of calls have been from people who overestimated the power and clearance of their vehicles and got stuck.