Lightning strikes during the overnight storm (ECCC)
Thunder and lightning, heavy rains and strong winds undoubtedly kept many people awake overnight across southern New Brunswick.
Environment Canada meteorologist Jill Maepea says while it’s rare to get thunderstorms during the winter months, it’s not too unusual.
“We do see it occasionally with these warm air masses over the warmer waters. Again, it is rare but it’s not something we’ve never seen before.”
Maepea says a low pressure system became a volatile storm as it moved through the province.
“Precipitation yesterday was associated with the warm front but the overnight period was the actual cold front. So that’s where we saw heavier showers, those thundershowers and strong wind gusts.”
Temperatures soared into the mid-teens overnight with record highs set on Grand Manan and in Fundy and Kouchibouguac National Parks.
Gusty winds between 70 and 100 km/h were recorded with a peak gust of 83 km/h at the Saint John Airport and 96 km/h at the Greater Moncton Airport – the windiest spot in the province.
Thousands of residents lost power and some schools were forced to close due to the unplanned outages.
