ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Snow and cold weather prompted school being called off and the cancellation of flights in parts of eastern Canada, officials said.
Newfoundland received heavy snowfall overnight Sunday and into Monday, causing rural parts of the province to shut down, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
"The highest accumulation [of snow] I found was up in Twillingate -- they've got about 40 centimeters (15.75 inches)," said Wanda Rideout from Environment Canada's Gander weather office. "Stephenville got 29 centimeters (11.4 inches) out that way, and St. Lawrence got up around 26, 27 centimeters (10.6 inches). Parts of the Avalon got about 15 centimeters (5.9 inches)."
Memorial University's Queens College was closed Monday due to flooding and the Grenfell campus in Corner Brook said all exams scheduled for Monday would be postponed.
Flights out of St. John's were grounded Monday.
Rideout said the snow storm in now moving out of the area.
"Conditions are gradually starting to improve now. The low is currently northeast of the Avalon Peninsula," she said. "It's quickly moving offshore, so we should see pretty good improvement now throughout the morning, anyway."
In Nova Scotia, 13 schools were closed due to heavy snow, the CBC said.
CBC meteorologist Kalin Mitchell said the province received about 7.8 inches of snow.
