Blizzard slams eastern Canada

A nasty blizzard driven by strong winds is hammering the eastern Atlantic Canada for the third time in seven days.

Police in Nova Scotia are urging people to stay off the roads as heavy snow, strong winds and whiteout conditions are making driving extremely dangerous.

Wind gusts are currently hitting 80 km per hour. In some areas,that will be increasing in the overnight hours to up to 100 km per hour and persisting through Monday, police said.

Environment Canada is now forecasting as much as 60 centimetersof snow for the Halifax area and along coastlines, with inland areas getting about 40 centimeters. This adds to the snow that already fell on the region in snowstorms on Monday and Thursday.

Halifax International Airport, a major international airport ineastern Canada, canceled all arriving and departing flights until late Sunday.

The blizzard is also pounding southeastern part of New Brunswick Province and all of Prince Edward Island Province and will likely do the same when it heads on to Newfoundland Province late Monday.

Source: Xinhua