Frankenstorm weakening
Posted Oct 30, 2012 05:50:30 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The monster storm wreaking havoc over the mid-Atlantic United States and central Canada today is behaving like a typical fall storm in the Maritimes.
Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey Monday night with winds near 130 km/h. The combination snowstorm has since been downgraded to a post tropical storm.
In Nova Scotia, the system is expected to be a rain, wind and wave event.
“The rainfall is really going to start in earnest,” said News 95.7 meteorologist Richard Zurawski. “Could be a heavy rainfall warning issues, especially for the South Shore and much of Nova Scotia.”
Zurawski is predicting 50 to 70 mms between Tuesday and Wednesday morning, with lighter rains continuing until Friday.
Water levels are expected to be higher than usual due to the full moon, which means in combination with the storm, will create pounding surf. Waves are upwards of seven to nine metres in the open water, and about five to seven metres along the South Shore.
As of 6 a.m., Environment Canada had issued no watches or warnings about the storm in Nova Scotia, although staff were monitoring rainfall and wind gusts.
“Throughout much of the province, we’ll be seeing some gusts up to about 60 to 70 kms/h, but higher down to the southwestern end of the province,” forecaster Tracey Talbot told the Rick Howe Show Monday evening.
Residents are advised to bring in their lawn furniture and anything that could become airborne in the wind, as well as clean debris away from storm drains.
The storm has the Liberal energy critic calling on Nova Scotia Power to make a public statement about its preparedness strategy.
“I think it’s incumbent on the utility to always advise the public of their storm plans in advance,” Andrew Younger told the Rick Howe Show, Monday. “They haven’t been doing that. We watch all the U.S. utilities doing that, so that customers know what to expect in the event the power goes out.”
Sandy is expected to position itself over the Great Lakes this morning.
As of 6 a.m., more than a dozen flights had been cancelled at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
The storm has also cancelled the Tancook Ferry, running between the Tancook Islands and Chester, N.S.
