The remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole brought Newfoundland its first winter storm of the season Saturday, with many areas across the island battered by snow, rain, wind and ice pellets. Nicole, which struck Florida as a Category 1 hurricane on Thursday, is expected to track near or over much of Newfoundland throughout Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Newfoundland’s southwest coast saw its highest rainfall levels since Saturday afternoon, with Burgeo getting about 56 millimeters of rain and the Port aux Basques area about 51 millimeters, Environment Canada meteorologist Melissa Field said. Port aux Basques, the town on the south-west coast of the island that suffered significant damage from post-tropical storm Fiona, experienced minor flooding on Big Bridge Hill on Saturday due to the rainfall. Flooding seems to be only in this area. The gutter has been cleaned and is draining quickly. Report a basement to be pumped. pic.twitter.com/pkC83WCczr —@WreckhousePress Badger and La Scie saw about four inches of snow by Saturday afternoon, Field said. Grand Falls-Windsor and the surrounding area also saw heavy snowfall earlier in the day, causing reduced visibility, but the weather will turn to mostly rain for Saturday afternoon, Field said. “It was very messy there earlier today,” he said. Deer Lake also saw snow in the morning before transitioning to freezing rain and ice pellets by lunchtime. The snowfall total for the city was about two inches. Gander has seen about seven inches of snow since Saturday afternoon, which is expected to turn to rain by evening. Wondering if it snows in Gander? Yes. Yes it is. And Cooper is no more useful as a 1 year old puppy than he was when he was 2 months old! pic.twitter.com/5pjaIs5jvi @LydiaEvequoz Rapid build-up underway across Central. No ice pellets mixed in yet. Temperatures have dropped to ~0c as predicted. pic.twitter.com/BrLnz5PGVI —@right_series The Northern Peninsula saw some snow earlier in the afternoon, but there was “no significant accumulation, probably about two inches locally,” Field said. Field says the majority of the rain will taper off overnight Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday morning. Most of central Newfoundland can expect another five to 10 cm of snow, with 10 to 15 cm for the Green Bay and White Bay areas. Port aux Basques, along the southern coast and the Burin Peninsula is expected to see a total of 30 to 50 mm of rain, while the southern Avalon region is expected to see up to 50 to 70 mm, with St. John’s to be 30 to 40 mm. Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
