HALIFAX – Rainfall warnings have been issued for western Nova Scotia and the province’s Atlantic coastline, from Halifax to Yarmouth, as a sprawling storm was poised to move into the region overnight.
Environment Canada said the rain would continue into Saturday, with up to 60 millimetres of rain in the forecast, though some areas could get up to 100 mm.
Ian Hubbard, a meteorologist with the federal agency, said similar storms have caused road washouts, flooded basements and power outages.
Meanwhile, special weather statements have been issued for the rest of the province and eastern New Brunswick, where the low-pressure system was to bring gusty winds and between 30 and 50 millimetres of rain.
Hubbard said in parts of coastal Nova Scotia there could be gusts of up to 70 kilometres per hour.
He said the weather system that originated in the tropics would reach Cape Breton and parts of Prince Edward Island by Saturday morning.
The weather service expects the heavy rainfall will be over by dinner time on Saturday evening.
Hubbard said rates of rainfall could vary widely from one location to another.
“Any time we have some tropical moisture with the storm, we do see higher rainfall rates,” said Hubbard. “We could see rainfall rates locally of 20 to 25 millimetres per hour, maybe even as high as 40 millimetres an hour in some isolated downpours.”
In recent years, Nova Scotia has been experienced dangerous flash floods as a result of tropical weather systems slowly passing over the province.
On July 11, a 13-year-old boy died after he was swept away by floodwaters during a heavy downpour in western Nova Scotia, when over 100 mm of rain fell in just a few hours. There were reports of close to 70 mm of rain falling in an hour at some weather stations during that event.
In July of last year, four people died — including two young children — in floods in the nearby municipality of West Hants after 250 mm of rain fell over 24 hours.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
