Too early to predict tropical storm Henri's effect on Maritimes: forecaster

HALIFAX -

Tropical storm Henri is expected to hit the eastern U.S. as a hurricane this weekend, but a Canadian forecaster says it's too early to tell what effect the storm will have on the Maritimes.

Henri is currently located off Cape Hatteras, N.C., and is expected to intensify into a hurricane by Saturday and could affect the New England states by Sunday.

Canadian Hurricane Centre meteorologist Ian Hubbard said Friday the storm should weaken as it heads north and hits cooler waters.

Hubbard says it's expected Henri will transition to a tropical or post-tropical storm by the time it reaches the Maritimes.

He says the system should bring moderate winds and some rain to parts of Nova Scotia by Tuesday.

Environment Canada, however, says larger-than-normal surf conditions will develop on Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast this weekend.

"There is still a lot of uncertainty about exactly where it's going to go, how strong it's going to be and even the timing of it," Hubbard said in an interview. "We are going to have to see how long it stays over land and how much strength it loses as well, before we have a really good handle on it."

United States forecasters say the storm had maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometres per hour as of early Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2021.