Weather front brings heavy rain, power outages to the Maritimes

A weather front off a low-pressure system centred over the border of Ontario and Quebec has brought downpours and winds to the Maritimes gusty enough to create some power outages.

New Brunswick was the province most affected by Monday's power outages. Just after noon, NB Power was reporting near 46,000 affected customers. Nova Scotia Power was near 500 affected customers, while Maritime Electric on Prince Edward Island had eight reported outages.

The wind has primarily been from the east, with gusts ranging 30 to 60 km/h for most. Stronger wind gusts are present on the Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia where they have approached 80 km/h. A wind warning has been issued for northern Inverness County, Cape Breton, for gusts that could peak near, or in excess of, 110 km/h Monday afternoon into Tuesday morning. The stronger winds for that part of the Maritimes is due to the topography of the Cape Breton Highlands.

Peak winds gusts reported across weather stations in the Maritimes as of just after 1 p.m. Monday.Southwestern New Brunswick and southwestern Nova Scotia cleared the heaviest rain early Monday afternoon. Those areas reported general totals of 10 to 30 mm with some higher local amounts of 30 to 50 mm reported in Nova Scotia. The South Shore and western Halifax County are under a rainfall warning that calls for some totals to approach 50 mm.

The rain will clear New Brunswick and western Nova Scotia Monday afternoon and evening. Periods of rain will linger for Prince Edward Island and eastern Nova Scotia Monday night and Tuesday. The remainder of the Maritimes will have a chance of showers or drizzle on Tuesday. The sun may break through a bit Tuesday in western areas of New Brunswick and southwestern Nova Scotia.

Additional rain amounts expected Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning. Further periods of rain are expected for eastern Nova Scotia and P.E.I. on Tuesday.Another low-pressure system moving out of the northeastern United States will pass south and east of the Maritimes on Wednesday. While not coming directly through, that will keep us in a general northeast wind off the North Atlantic. That chilly, moisture-laden band of ocean air will keep showers and drizzle in place for the Maritimes on Wednesday. Some wet snow may mix in with showers for Cape Breton. High temperatures will be held in the single digits, which is well below the averages for early May, which are in the low-to-mid teens.

North Atlantic air will keep showers, drizzle, and fog around the Maritimes on Wednesday, with chilly May temperatures as well.Cooler, cloudier weather with a chance of showers are expected to persist through the end of the week. Don’t to get too down about the damp conditions though, as we did run a deficit for rain through March and April. This week’s weather should help the fire weather index in the region in particular, which was starting to creep up a bit in some areas.

Watch forecast updates and regional weather conditions on CTV News Atlantic Five, Six, and 11:30 p.m.