Wind warning issued for Wednesday storm

A winter storm that will sweep over the Maritimes Wednesday will be bringing more wind than snow to P.E.I. Environment Canada has issued a wind warning for the whole province. Gusts will blow as strong as 100 km/h, said CBC meteorologist Tina Simpkin. Snow will start falling in the morning, changing to rain in the afternoon.

While Simpkin expects some ice pellets and maybe freezing rain in the transition from snow to rain, she does not expect that period to last long. "This is a fast moving system. It's coming in pretty fast. It's also departing pretty fast," she said. "That means we've got about 12 hours of some very treacherous weather, especially on the roadways tomorrow." Strongest winds in mid afternoon The snow will begin in the morning, probably before 8 a.m., with temperatures right around the freezing mark.

The wind will also begin to strengthen out of the southwest in the morning, blowing at 40 km/h with gusts to 60. Those winds will bring warmer temperatures, changing the snow to rain in the mid afternoon. The wind will be blowing harder then, at 60 km/h with gusts to 100. Wind that strong is likely to cause power outages.

Total snowfall is expected to be five to 15 centimetres, followed by 10 to 20 millimeters of rain. While there will not be a lot of snow, with the strong winds visibility on the roads could be a problem before the change to rain..