A fair, dry weekend for the Maritimes followed by a rainy start to May

A couple takes advantage of fine spring weather as they walk their dogs on Conrad's Beach, in Lawrencetown, N.S. on Friday, May 7, 2010. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan)

With a ridge of high pressure building in from the west, just a few clouds and some fog patches are expected Friday night — followed by largely fair weather for the weekend ahead.

A few clouds along with fog patches developing overnight for the Maritimes Friday night.

We’ve had a few Friday nights in a row now with decent conditions for night sky viewing and Friday night is another. If you wanted to do some star/planet gazing, here are a few things you can spot:

• The Waxing Gibbous Moon is 56 per cent illuminated and will be high in the western sky this evening.
• Look just to the left of the Moon to spot the star Regulus, part of the constellation Leo.
• The planet Venus will set in the northwest near midnight.
• Mars and the constellation Gemini follow Venus in the night sky and set a few hours later.
• There was a spectacular display of the aurora last weekend, though it’s not expected to repeat this weekend. The latest forecast from the Space Weather Prediction branch of the NOAA only has minor geomagnetic storm conditions forecast for this weekend. The geomagnetic storm that produced the aurora last weekend was rated as severe.

A few things to spot in the night sky this evening. Viewing conditions should be decent for most.

After some morning fog dissipates, a mix of sun and cloud is expected Saturday. Most of the cloud will be high and most widespread around western areas of New Brunswick and southwestern areas of Nova Scotia.

High temperatures will reach the low-to-mid teens for many but remain a bit cooler, 8C to 12C, for P.E.I. and eastern areas of Nova Scotia including Cape Breton. The UV index rated 6 or 7, which is high.

Mostly sunny or a fair weather mix of sun and cloud across the Maritimes on Saturday.

The ridge of high pressure breaks down on Sunday allowing for increasing cloudiness from the west. Most high temperatures should still reach the low-to-mid teens though a bit cooler on the coast and in Cape Breton. Wind will be from the south/southeast, sustained 10 to 20 km/h with gusts 20 to 40 km/h. A larger change in the weather arrives Sunday night into Monday morning.

A weather front off of a low-pressure system centred around Ontario and Quebec will bring the Maritimes a round of rain and gusty weather. Rain will start for western New Brunswick and southwestern Nova Scotia Sunday night.

The rest of the Maritimes will see the rain develop Monday morning and afternoon. Rain persists into Monday night but eases to a chance of showers for Tuesday.

What looks like a general rainfall of 10 to 30 mm is expected Monday for the Maritimes. There is a chance of some locally higher amounts in the southwest of New Brunswick and near the Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia.

A general 10 to 30 mm of rain looks possible out of that system. Local totals exceeding 30 mm may be possible with the chance of that highest around the Bay of Fundy coastline in New Brunswick and the Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia. This is a needed rain for the region as we are running a deficit when it comes to total precipitation through the months of March and April.

A bit of rain would be welcome. We are currently running drier than 30-year averages when it comes to total March and April precipitation.

Forecast updates and regional weather conditions on CTV News Atlantic Five, Six, and 11:30 PM.