Hurricane, tropical storm watches issued in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick

Lee moves to the west of Bermuda on NASA satellite imagery as a Category 1 hurricane.

A hurricane watch has been issued by Environment Canada for Grand Manan and coastal Charlotte County in New Brunswick and the counties of Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne, and Queens in Nova Scotia.

The watch is states “there is a slight possibility that Hurricane Lee could bring near-hurricane conditions.” Winds could gust as high as 120 km/h.

A tropical storm watch in effect for Saint John and the Bay of Fundy coastline also extends into Moncton and the southeast in New Brunswick. For Nova Scotia, a tropical storm watch is in place for the Annapolis Valley, western Cumberland/Colchester counties, Lunenburg County, and western Halifax County. The areas under the watch could be impacted by sustained winds up to 60 km/h with gusts reaching 90 to 100 km/h on Saturday. The weather agency notes that a tropical storm watch also implies a risk of heavy rainfall that could result in local flooding.

Hurricane and tropical watches issued for parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia by Environment Canada.

The latest forecast track for Lee has the storm approaching the southern marine waters of the Maritimes as a Category 1 hurricane Saturday morning. Lee is then forecast to become a tropical/post-tropical storm as it approaches and crosses land areas of the Maritimes. The landfall point could be either in the southwest of Nova Scotia Saturday evening or on the Bay of Fundy coastline of New Brunswick very early Sunday morning.

The forecast track for Lee as per the National Hurricane Center as of noon Thursday.

WIND

The southwest of both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are expected to experience the strongest of the winds with the storm on Saturday. Gusts for those areas will reach 80 to 110 km/h at times. Gusts could also exceed 100 km/h in northern Inverness County, Cape Breton, due to the topography of the Highlands. Much of the remainder of the Maritimes is expected to occasionally peak with gusts of 60 to 80 km/h on Saturday and into early Sunday morning. Wind will initially be out of the northeast and then turn east/southeast through the day.

The greatest risk of power outages will be in southwestern Nova Scotia and southwestern New Brunswick. Power outages outside those areas can’t be ruled out. There will be a lengthy period of generally high and gusty winds in the Maritimes and trees are still in full leaf, which will amplify the force of the wind on them.

The strongest winds still expected in southwestern areas of both New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

RAINFALL

The greatest risk of heavy rain will be along and just to the west of the track of Lee across the region. At this time, that places New Brunswick in that area. A band of rain totaling 60 to 120 mm is possible running southwest to northeast across the province. Much of that rain will fall Saturday afternoon into early Sunday morning. Rain totals of 50 to 80 mm are at risk in southwestern Nova Scotia.

Totals that high within 24 hours come with a risk of flooding and flash flooding. There is a risk of more isolated downpours in the Maritimes outside the above areas. In general, the remainder of the region can expect about 10 to 40 mm of rain from Lee.

The risk of heavy rain is highest in southwestern Nova Scotia and then in a band through central New Brunswick.

WAVES AND SURF

The large size of the storm will bring widespread increased wave and surf to coastal areas of the Maritimes. Some of the more impacted areas are expected to be the Bay of Fundy coastline in New Brunswick and the Atlantic coastline of mainland Nova Scotia. The Canadian Hurricane Centre noting “for Atlantic coastal Nova Scotia breaking waves of 4-6 metres (15 to 20 feet) are likely” on Saturday.

Extreme caution should be taken on the coast on Saturday, particularly at high tide times. The first high tide on the Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia is occurring between approximately 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. The first high tide on the Bay of Fundy coastline in New Brunswick is approximately between 1 and 2 p.m.

High tide times on Saturday as wave and wind action increases on coastal areas of the Maritimes.

It is advised the public closely monitor the alerts and bulletins put out by Environment Canada and the Canadian Hurricane Centre. I’ll have update on CTV News Atlantic programming and at ctvnewsatlantic.ca.