Tropical Cyclone (Lee) Latest Information.

For Hurricane Lee – this is a Saturday event for the strongest impacts with lingering weaker conditions on Sunday.

Approaching category-1 hurricane becoming post-tropical at landfall in eastern Maine or southern New Brunswick.

1. Summary of basic information at 9:00 p.m. ADT. Location: 27.9 degrees North 67.7 degrees West. About 575 km south-southwest of Bermuda. Maximum sustained winds: 165 kilometres per hour. Present movement: North-northwest around 17 kilometres per hour. Minimum central pressure: 954 millibars.

2. Public weather impacts and warnings summary. Hurricane Lee is now on its northward course toward the Maritime provinces and the state of Maine. This hurricane is quite large and is expected to grow in size as it approaches. On the other hand the intensity (which is based on the peak winds in the storm) will be decreasing and is expected to be just below hurricane status when it is passing just west of Yarmouth Saturday afternoon.

This timing and location will likely change over the next 3 days but that is the official most likely scenario at this stage. The centre of Lee could make landfall anywhere from Downeast Maine to western Nova Scotia as a strong tropical storm or post-tropical low.

Our latest assessment is that western Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick stand to see the most wind while western New Brunswick northward into parts of the Bas-St-Laurent and Gaspesie regions of Quebec are at risk of the heaviest rainfall. High waves and elevated water levels will be more widespread due to the large size of the storm – the most impacted areas likely covering much of the Atlantic coast of mainland Nova Scotia and the Fundy coast of New Brunswick.

NOTE: In addition to Lee, the Maritime provinces may experience bands of training downpours travelling from southwest to northeast. These bands are notoriously difficult to predict but it is important to understand there is a flooding risk with these bands well before the arrival of Lee. These complex effects are indirectly related to the hurricane. Additional rainfall from Lee itself could exacerbate the risk of flooding.

a. Wind. Breakdown of winds and impacts will appear here in later bulletins. Most likely region for worst impacts: western Nova Scotia as well as Grand Manan and Coastal Charlotte County region of New Brunswick. Tropical Storm and Hurricane Watches will be posted for some areas at midnight tonight for possible gusts to 120 km/h (hurricane-force) Saturday.

b. Rainfall. Breakdown of rainfall and impacts will appear here in later bulletins. Most likely region for heaviest rain: western New Brunswick and northward into Quebec.

c. Surge/Waves. Breakdown of surge/waves and impacts will appear here in later bulletins. Most likely region for worst impacts: Atlantic coastal mainland Nova Scotia and areas around the Bay of Fundy.

3. Marine weather impacts and warnings summary. Greatest waves and winds expected around the Bay of Fundy, Gulf of Maine and southwest Maritimes marine district.

Forecaster: Fogarty/Clements

Please continue to monitor alerts issued by the Canadian Hurricane Centre and forecasts issued by Environment Canada.

For more comprehensive information about track tables and forecast rationale, please see the Technical Discussion

Visit the Canadian Hurricane Centre to learn more about hurricanes.

Source: Environment Canada Release.