Winter storm blows into Halifax

A powerful blizzard began pounding Halifax just as the evening commute started Monday. But many residents were already hunkered down.

Halifax schools, universities and businesses closed in anticipation of the storm.

All schools in the Halifax Regional School Board are closed today (Monday, Feb 8) due to the pending forecast. PleaseRT

— HRSB (@HRSB_Official) February 8, 2016

Around noon, the first flakes started to fall downtown and it escalated quickly.

Blizzard is definitely happening. Went from light to heavy snowfall and wind within a few minutes. Batten down the hatches, she’s a blowin!

— Dale Willman (@TheLadyIsA_) February 8, 2016

Between the worsening weather and pre-emptive closures, the downtown area was eerily empty by the late afternoon.

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The inclement weather affected Halifax Transit as well.

Routes 2, 4, 6, 18, 21, 22, 35, 72, 81 and 90 are on snow plan. Routes 2, 17 and 52 are detoured from the bottom of Main. #hfxtransit

— Halifax Transit (@hfxtransit) February 8, 2016

Satellite imaging showed the storm settling directly on top of Nova Scotia.

Many reported hearing thunder during the blizzard.

Thunder snow = the end of the world. #science

— Shawn Shearer (@thatshawn) February 8, 2016

Some closures will continue into tomorrow morning.

Municipal offices, customer service centres & @hfxrec facilities closed until noon Tuesday due to storm. Reassessing at 10:30am #hfxsnow

— hfxgov (@hfxgov) February 9, 2016