BAD WEATHER ON THE WAY

It’s looking like winter’s first major snowstorm is heading for the province on Thursday, Friday

It’s never a good sign when the Environment Canada meteorologist begins an interview this way.

“It’s not looking good.’’ Those were Linda Libby’s first words when The Guardian contacted her on Tuesday for an idea of what P.E.I. can expect weather-wise on Thursday and Friday.

Winter’s first major snowstorm seems to be a given at this point.

“All weather models are saying a big storm . . . it’s still going to be a little bit ugly and it’s still going to be a large scale issue in that pretty much all of the Maritimes will be impacted,’’ Libby said.

At the moment, only northern New Brunswick looks to get off lightly.

Libby said the storm looks to be mostly a snow event for Prince County. However, she said it will likely start as rain in Kings County, but everyone will be into snow by early Friday morning.

Libby said parts of the Island will see between five and 15 millimetres of rain and possibly 20, and much of the province can expected 15 to 25 centimetres of snow, with some seeing as much as 30 centimetres.

Winds will be calm on Thursday morning but will pick up through the day. Between 5 and 8 p.m. winds will be 50 km/h, gusting to 80 km/h.

They’ll drop briefly overnight but then pick up again around 5 a.m. Friday to 60 km/h, with gusts to 90 km/h.

And, for the commuters, it looks to be a risky drive home from work on Thursday evening and Friday morning.

Libby said those winds will have five to 10 centimetres of snow to whip around by 5 p.m. Thursday and those winds will make getting back into work Friday morning just as tough.

“Leave early (Thursday) if you can . . . and maybe delay your departure (Friday morning).’’