Oscar’s impacts won’t be as severe as the flooding rains, mudslides and damaging winds felt across Cuba and the Bahamas earlier this week, but its remnants are headed towards Canada’s East Coast, where a decent weekend soaking has prompted rainfall warnings for parts of the region.
Very heavy rain, a risk for localized flooding, and windy conditions are the main threats into Saturday, with sections of central and eastern Newfoundland bearing the brunt of this tropical impact. In some of the harder-hit areas, as much as 125 mm of rain could fall. Meanwhile, strong northerly winds gusting up to 90 km/h could impact both eastern Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
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There could be impacts to travel as conditions deteriorate, including delays and cancellations of ferry services. Water levels in creeks and streams will also likely be elevated, so residents are urged to keep an eye on the warnings, and avoid any areas at risk of overflowing. Scattered power outages are likely, as winds pick up through Friday afternoon.
Thursday to Saturday:
The potent cold front tracking across the country, and significantly cooling temperatures in its wake, will head into the Maritimes on Thursday, helping to draw the remnants of Oscar into Atlantic Canada.
Rain starts Thursday afternoon for the eastern shores of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, with lighter shower activity for the Halifax, N.S., area. The intensity of rain increases overnight into Friday morning, mainly for Newfoundland, as the heavy rain that was initially forecast off the coast of Cape Breton has shifted. Still, rainfall warnings are in effect for Sydney Metro and Cape Breton County, where a widespread 40-60 mm is forecast.
Total rainfall amounts of 75-125 mm are possible in some of the hardest-hit regions of central and eastern Newfoundland, where rainfall rates during the heaviest downpours could reach as high as 20 mm per hour.
Hazardous driving conditions from water pooling on roadways is likely, with the risk for road shoulder erosion and washouts, as well.
The Burin, Connaigre, and Avalon Peninsula are forecast to see the heaviest rain through Friday.
So far, St. John’s airport has recorded around 100 mm this month, a similar amount forecast between Thursday and Saturday this week. Friday may actually end up as the wettest day of the year so far for St. John’s, beating out the previous 53.6 mm of rain from March 8.
Meanwhile in Gander, the wettest day of the year so far was on February 14 with 38.3 mm of precipitation, all of which fell as snow. Friday is now forecast to be the wettest day of the year for the region, with the chance of seeing above 40 mm of rain. This will also be more rain than what’s fallen in all of October so far, currently sitting at 30.5 mm.
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Strong northerly winds pick up through the pre-dawn hours on Friday morning, and peak in the afternoon and evening across Newfoundland. On the Avalon Peninsula, the winds will develop overnight Friday night or early Saturday morning.
Gusts between 60-90 km/h are expected with this system, with sections of eastern Nova Scotia also in line for the gusty conditions. These winds could result in localized power outages.
Both the rain and winds are expected to gradually ease through the day on Saturday.
Chilly weather is expected for early next week, then turning much warmer again by the middle of and late week.
Be sure to check back for the latest weather updates across Atlantic Canada.