Hurricane, tropical storm watches issued in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick

A hurricane watch has been issued by Environment Canada for Grand Manan and coastal Charlotte County in New Brunswick and the counties of Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne, and Queens in Nova Scotia.

A hurricane watch has been issued by Environment Canada for Grand Manan and coastal Charlotte County in New Brunswick and the counties of Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne, and Queens in Nova Scotia.

The watch is states “there is a slight possibility that Hurricane Lee could bring near-hurricane conditions.” Winds could gust as high as 120 km/h.

A tropical storm watch in effect for Saint John and the Bay of Fundy coastline also extends into Moncton and the southeast in New Brunswick. For Nova Scotia, a tropical storm watch is in place for the Annapolis Valley, western Cumberland/Colchester counties, Lunenburg County, and western Halifax County. The areas under the watch could be impacted by sustained winds up to 60 km/h with gusts reaching 90 to 100 km/h on Saturday. The weather agency notes that a tropical storm watch also implies a risk of heavy rainfall that could result in local flooding.

The latest forecast track for Lee has the storm approaching the southern marine waters of the Maritimes as a Category 1 hurricane Saturday morning. Lee is then forecast to become a tropical/post-tropical storm as it approaches and crosses land areas of the Maritimes. The landfall point could be either in the southwest of Nova Scotia Saturday evening or on the Bay of Fundy coastline of New Brunswick very early Sunday morning.