Hurricane Lee to bring high winds, storm surge to Nova Scotia
There’s still some uncertainty around what exactly hurricane Lee is going to do when it reaches Nova Scotia, but it doesn’t look at this point like anyone will experience the conditions like those when Fiona tore through the province last year.
The storm is expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm before landfall, and as of Wednesday morning looked like it might make landfall towards Maine instead of Nova Scotia. But that doesn’t mean the province won’t get whacked with some harsh weather on the weekend.
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SaltWire weather specialist Allister Aalders said the worst area for storm surges will be along the South Shore and up the Bay of Fundy, with heights of three metres Friday and up to six metres Saturday, with wave heights of up to 12 metres.
Strong winds at post-tropical storm strength will stick around for an extended period in Yarmouth, Digby, Shelburne and possibly Queens County.
He said winds could gust up to or over 100 km/h through those counties, with the highest gusts along the coastline.
He said the storm will grow in size as it weakens to post-tropical status, with winds of 30-50 km/h in the rest of the province, and gusts peaking at 60-80 and maybe 90 km/h.
Rainfall of about 50 mm is possible.
“It will be post-tropical so it loses its tropical characteristics…. The field of impacts will be wider but probably not as severe as a hurricane,” Aalders said.
The first bands of rain with gusty winds will arrive Friday night into Saturday morning and dissipate Sunday into Monday.
The effects could be different if the storm charges course, Aalders said.
On Sept. 24 and 25 of last year, Fiona hit Nova Scotia as a post-tropical storm, knocking out power to 400,000 customers, ripping roofs of buildings, upending trees and causing damage in the millions.
