To all a snowy night
Street parking ban in place; plows expected to be hopping during Christmas
The province’s plow operators and winter maintenance crews will work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, as Mother Nature has decided to give Newfoundland and Labrador a white Christmas.
A provincial government news release notes that Environment Canada forecasts call for up to 30 centimetres of snow for some parts of the province, and reminds motorists to be patient when travelling and expect travel delays as heavy drifting and snow accumulation can occur quickly on highways following plow activity.
Plows on provincial highways, including the 14 overnight routes, can be tracked online at the Provincial Plow Tracker, available at www.nl511.ca, the NL 511 mobile app and www. roads.gov.nl.ca.
The City of St. John’s, meanwhile, will have crews out in full force to deal with the expected snow.
Lynnann Winsor, deputy city manager for public works, told reporters Monday that drivers will get an early Christmas gift of an on-street parking ban.
Winsor said that due to the volume of snow forecast for the coming week, the City of St. John’s is required to implement the on-street parking ban outside the downtown, and the business district winter parking restriction, as of 12:30 a.m. Christmas Day.
A news release notes the city usually implements the parking ban in early January and had previously announced the ban date for this year as Jan. 8. However, the forecast requires an early implementation, the city stated.
While in effect, on-street parking outside downtown is prohibited between 12:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. daily. Tickets will be issued while the ban is in effect, regardless of snow or street conditions.
The business district winter parking restriction on sections of Water Street (Waldegrave Street to Prescott Street) and Duckworth Street (New Gower Street to Cochrane Street) is daily, regardless of conditions. The city's news release states it’s from 4-6 a.m.
Vehicles in violation will be ticketed and/or towed.
According to Environment Canada, a heavy snowfall with blowing snow is expected for much of the province, with a total snowfall of 20 to 35 cm by Christmas Day morning.
Maximum wind gusts will be northwesterly 80 km/h.
“Snow, at times heavy, will begin Christmas Eve morning and continue much of Christmas Eve night. Strong easterly winds gusting to 60 km/h will develop during the afternoon on Christmas Eve and further increase to strong northwesterlies gusting to 80 km/h Christmas Eve night,” Environment Canada states.
“While the snow will ease late Christmas Eve night, strong northwesterly winds will persist through Christmas Day and Boxing Day, causing blowing snow at times.
“In addition, a second round of steadier snow, possibly heavy, is expected to develop by afternoon on Boxing Day. Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become difficult to navigate due to accumulating snow. Visibility will be suddenly reduced to near zero at times in heavy snow and blowing snow.”