Weather warnings remain in effect with a 20 degree temperature swing expected

CITYnews halifax / By Dan Ahlstrand

It will be another messy weather day in and around HRM on Thursday.

Rainfall warnings are still in place for the municipality and surrounding area, with forecasters predicting an additional 20 mm and a chance of a thunderstorm this morning before a brief change to snow this afternoon as we see a big swing in temperatures.

The forecast is calling for temps in the 10-degree range this morning, but by tonight, the mercury will plummet to -12, and with the wind factored in, that will feel more like -21

A wind warning remains in effect for HRM and most of Nova Scotia.  The national forecaster says wind gusts in the 100 km/h range are possible this morning but expects them to begin to die off before noon.

All HRCE schools are open this morning, but several schools are closed today across the region. Schools within the Chignecto-Central, South Shore, Tri-County and Annapolis Valley Regional Centres for Education are closed on Thursday. Buses within the Strait Regional Centre for Education only travel on paved roads.

The weather has caused several power interruptions across Nova Scotia, including a number in the Dartmouth and Sackville areas.

As of 6:30 a.m., the Nova Scotia Power outage map reports about 12,000 outages across the province, 3,800 of which are in Dartmouth and Chezzetcook areas and about 600 each in Sackville and Halifax.

The utility says the strong winds we saw overnight are responsible for the outages, and restoration times are estimated for noon.

Weather warnings remained in effect Thursday morning as Enviroment Canada forecasts strong wind gusts and a 20 degree drop in temperature//Stock Photo Verstappen Photography