Weather bomb erupts over Maritimes
Posted Dec 8, 2011 08:07:15 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Environment Canada has extended its latest wind warnings to cover large chunks of Atlantic Canada as a fast-moving storm system known as a ‘weather bomb’ approaches.
Forecasters say potentially damaging winds reaching 100 kilometres per hour or more are expected in almost every county of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, northern New Brunswick and the west and north coasts of Newfoundland.
“We will be seeing some precipitation with this as well, but in fact the winds will be pretty high throughout most of the Maritimes,” said meteorologist Tracey Talbot. “We will be seeing winds within the warning criteria for PEI and for northern and eastern parts of Nova Scotia.”
Police say driving conditions have deteriorated rapidly in and around metro, with water accumulating on the roads and poor visibility creating ideal conditions for mishaps.
Halifax is expecting winds to reach 100 kilometers per hour by noon and about 40 millimeters of rain to fall throughout the day. Conditions are expected to taper off by the evening.
“Put the patio furniture away if you haven’t done so already,” said News 95.7 meteorologist Richard Zurawski. “Make sure you’ve got the garbage can tied down, because this is a strong storm and it’s moving through very quickly.”
Storms are classified as ‘weather bombs’ when the barometric pressure drops more than 24 millibars in 24 hours.
The Atlantic Storm Prediction Centre says gusts as high as 110 kilometres per hour are predicted for Nova Scotia’s Margaree Harbour and the Bay St. Lawrence area of Cape Breton.
