Hurricane Franklin expected to pass 'well southeast' of Newfoundland late Friday

The Canadian Hurricane Centre (CHC) says Hurricane Franklin is expected to pass “well southeast” of Newfoundland by late Friday, though it could still fuel significant rain and ocean swells as it nears.

The agency posted an updated tropical cyclone information statement on its website early Wednesday morning.

At that time, the storm was about 380 kilometres west of Bermuda, with maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h, and moving 19 km/h in a north-northeast direction.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) describes Franklin as a “large hurricane” and says the centre of the storm is expected to pass to the northwest of Bermuda later in the day Wednesday.

“Even though the center of Franklin is still forecast to pass to the northwest of Bermuda later today, the large area of tropical-storm-force winds associated with the hurricane to its southeast are expected to extend near or over the island, where a tropical storm warning remains in place,” a bulletin on the NHC’s website reads.

The latest hurricane track shows Franklin south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland by Friday night before it transitions to a “potent” post-tropical cyclone.

The Canadian Hurricane Centre says there is a chance of gale-to-storm-force offshore winds during that time.

While Newfoundland is not expected to experience any direct rainfall from Franklin, the CHC says “some tropical moisture from the hurricane will likely feed into an approaching non-tropical weather system originating from the Great Lakes. The resulting amounts could exceed 100 mm over parts of the region.”

The agency also says there are indications that ocean swells near two meters will approach the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia by Wednesday afternoon and could break higher. The swells are then expected to spread to the south coast of Newfoundland Wednesday night into Thursday where they could reach up to five metres.