The Big Picture

An area of low pressure is developing east of North Carolina’s coastline and may take on some tropical characteristics over the next 24 hours or so before getting captured by a system coming in from the west and pushed into Nova Scotia early Saturday morning. This low will bring heavy rain and gusty winds to the Maritime Provinces on Saturday. The low will then move north and may bring some rain to the Island later Saturday or Sunday. I say “may” because forecasts for the low track after it makes landfall in Nova Scotia vary from model to model. The result is low confidence in the forecast for NL for the second half of the weekend.

While the Island is going to dodge most of the rain from this low, we will not come out of it completely unscathed. As the low moves across Nova Scotia, some gusty southeasterlies are likely over the southwest corner of the Island on Saturday. Wind speeds in the Wreckhouse area will gust near 100 km/h Saturday night. There may also be some minor to moderate tidal flooding due to storm surge with Saturday night’s high tide over parts of southern and western Newfoundland. The details will get clearer over the next 24 hours or so.

There will also be some high seas on the Gulf from Saturday into Sunday. I expect this may impact the ferry crossing between NS and NL in that time. Be sure to check with Marine Atnaltinc if you have travel plans for the weekend.

The Forecast

FRIDAY: Mostly sunny Province-wide, with highs in the mid-20s for most of the Island. Ct will be a bit cooler in areas of onshore winds. Clouds increase in the southwest and west late in the day. Labrador will see sunshine and highs in the 20s for most areas south of the North Coast. On the North Coast, expect a high closer to 10º.

SATURDAY: Partly to mostly cloudy on the Island, with highs in the lower 20s. Sunny in Labrador with highs in the upper teens to lower 20s.

SUNDAY: Scattered showers and areas of rain. Highs in the lower 20s on the Island and mid-teens in most of Labrador.

MONDAY: Turning humid on the Island, with rain likely. Highs in the lower to middle 20s. Rain in Labrador as well, with highs in the middle teens to lower 20s.

TUESDAY: Partly to mostly cloudy. Highs in the mid-teens in Labrador and upper teens to lower 20s on the Island.