Islanders dig out as snow, freezing rain and high winds hit P.E.I.

Islanders have begun clearing their driveways and scraping their cars as the snow changed to freezing rain across P.E.I. Sunday.

Heavy rain and high winds are expected Sunday night as temperatures rise above thefreezing mark.

Environment Canada had issued a winter storm warning for Prince County and Queens County and a wind warning for the entire province. Up to 20 centimetres of snow was expected in most parts of the province.

• STORM CENTRE | For the latest cancellations and closures in P.E.I.

Strong southerly winds gusting up to 90 km/h will develop across the Island Sunday evening, the weather service said. Winds will diminish over western regions after midnight but will persist over eastern regions until early Monday morning.

Jonathan Locke of Charlottetown said he wanted to get his shovelling done before the rain started and the snow got heavy. He said he had a fire in the fireplace and was planning to hunker down and watch some movies.

"It's just a good old-fashioned snow day on P.E.I.," he said.

CBC meteorologist Jay Scotland said localized flooding and flooded basements are possible Sunday night as 20-40 millimetres of rain is expected when temperatures soar above the freezing mark.

"The ground is frozen so there's not really much of an ability for that ground to absorb all of that water," he said. "And as for that water, and standing water into Monday will start to freeze up as temperatures begin to fall. We'll see lingering showers Monday morning transitioning back to flurries through the day as that temperature ticks down thanks to cold northwesterly winds."

Many services and events were cancelled because of the storm on Sunday, and travel on the Island was impacted.

Restrictions on the Confederation Bridge are possible when the wind picks up Sunday evening. Air Canada has been cancelling flights at the Charlottetown Airport.

Maritime Bus has cancelled its service for Sunday.

Maritime Electric said it is keeping an eye on the storm an is ready to respond to any power outages.

Charlottetown said it expects to be de-icing, clearing and hauling snow Sunday night. It said overnight parking restrictions will be enforced at police discretion and violators may be ticketed and towed.

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