Heading for a three-peat: Maritimes in for a third big storm
Posted Dec 20, 2010 05:24:56 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s becoming an unwelcome trend in the Maritimes.
For a third straight Monday, another storm is about to tear through Nova Scotia, once again bringing heavy rain and strong winds.
Forecasters say a major low pressure system with track south off Nova Scotia today bringing some snow to southern regions of the province and rain elsewhere.
Environment Canada has issued rain and storm surge warnings for most of Nova Scotia, and News 95.7 Meteorologist Richard Zurawksi tells us that, like the previous two storms, this one will cause substantial damage – though it will get off to a slightly different start.
“We’re looking at about 10 to 15 centimetres of snow to begin with and then it switches over to about 50 millimetres of rain,” he said. “And of course, we’ve got wind gusts in the vicinity of about 80 kilometres an hour, so it’s pretty much a clone of the other storms we’ve had, with the exception that we’re going to get a fair amount of snow before we get the rain.”
Zurawski is warning coastal residents to brace for serious damage, and says storm watchers should stay away from local beaches where the storm surge will make for dangerous conditions.
“We’ve got a high tide happening, a full moon out there, and that means that the coastal area, coupled with the wind and high tide, is going to take a big pounding,” he said. “Lots of waves out there and definitely a place to be avoided.”
Zurawski says we can expect the snow to begin this afternoon and switch to rain overnight.
