Hurricane Franklin will bypass N.S. but heavy rain coming

Two storms approaching the United States are not expected to make landfall in the Maritimes, but the weather systems could churn up coastal waters on the Atlantic coast and add to already heavy rainfalls, said CBC meteorologist Tina Simpkin. 

Hurricane Idalia is expected to hit Florida’s west coast Wednesday morning and Hurricane Franklin is southwest of Bermuda, off the Carolinas. Its centre is not expected to make landfall at all in North America and the storm’s path will stay east of Atlantic Canada, Simpkin said. 

In the United States, the National Hurricane Centre is warning of life-threatening surf conditions from Franklin. 

Simpkin said those powerful waves will continue further north, leading to unpredictable currents and waves that are several metres higher than normal, particularly off Cape Breton.

She said that may result in dangerous surf conditions and possible riptides, so people should be cautious swimming along the Atlantic coast into the weekend.

While most of the moisture from Hurricane Franklin will stay off the coast, Simpkin said it could mix with two other weather systems, driving up rainfall that was already in the forecast for Nova Scotia.

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for Nova Scotia advising of heavy rain coming Tuesday night into Thursday morning.

Rainfall amounts could range from 40 to 90 mm or higher, and the alert warns this is falling at a time when water levels are already high and there has been considerable erosion on roads.

It said that amount of rain can cause pooling on roads and even washouts. 

People should expect lots of rain and thunderstorms — between 50 and 100 millimeters in some areas — with even more in the rain gauge if the moisture from Franklin is involved, Simpkin said.