How tropical storm Philippe will impact the Maritimes on Thanksgiving weekend

A veratey disorganized Tropical Storm Philippe maintains itself just to the north of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.

SHIFT TO THE WEST

The official forecast cone issued for tropical storm Philippe by the U.S. National Hurricane Center shifted significantly to the west on Wednesday.

The cone, which is the area the centre of the storm is expected to take a path through, now stretches from western Maine to western Nova Scotia. The cone goes on to include New Brunswick and much of eastern Quebec. As Philippe passes somewhere through that area it is still expected to be a post-tropical storm and likely get tied up in a separate weather front approaching from the west. The Maritimes should see more of a typical fall storm in structure, rather than a tropical storm.

There has been a shift west in the forecast cone for Philippe over the last 24 hours.

WEATHER OUTLOOK

Some areas of the Maritimes are still at risk to pick up rain totals of 50+ mm. There is also still a risk for some parts of the region to see wind gusts reaching 90+ km/h.

At this time, it looks like western New Brunswick into Maine is at highest risk of seeing heavier rain, while western Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy coastline in New Brunswick are at the highest risk for the strongest winds.

Wave heights continue to look lower than that of post-tropical storm Lee which means the risk of coastal erosion and wash should be lower.

As Philippe nears the Maritimes it is still expected to become post-tropical and combine with a separate weather front approaching from the west.

FASTER ARRIVAL

The arrival time of the rainy and windy weather brought in by the system is expected to start earlier then first forecasted. It now looks like the heavier rain and wind will arrive Saturday evening and night. The region can expect easing and clearing of the weather starting as early as Sunday morning.

We are still more than 72 hours out from the arrival of the storm, meaning there is a significant possibility for change in the timing and areas of impact for the rain and wind. It is not going to be the scale of impact as a Fiona or Dorian and likely less than that of post-tropical storm Lee.

I’ll have continued updates on Philippe on CTV News Atlantic programming and at ctvnewsatlantic.ca