Hurricane Erin to bring gusty winds, high surf to Nova Scotia

CITYnews halifax / By Dan Ahlstrand

Hurricane Erin, this season’s first major storm, is set to influence the first half of the weekend’s weather.

While Erin is expected to remain well offshore, it will still impact Nova Scotia with gusty winds and rough surf. Winds are expected to gust up to 50 kilometres per hour across most of the province, with stronger gusts reaching 70 km/h along the Atlantic coast.

“The bigger story will be the waves along the Atlantic coast, building in today and breaking two and five metres, and that will come with risk of rip currents,” said 95.7’s weather specialist Allister Aalders.

“Best to stay out of the ocean as we go through the day-to-day and even for Saturday as that rip current threat will still be there,” Aalders added. “The waves do begin to subside as we go throughout Saturday.”

Despite Erin’s proximity, no rain from the hurricane is expected to fall on Nova Scotia. The weekend forecast remains dry.

As of 9:00 a.m. local time, Hurricane Erin was just off the coast of Nova Scotia. It is expected to continue out into the Atlantic Ocean having little impact on the province. (Canadian Hurricane Centre)

Looking ahead, a system moving in early next week could bring some much-needed rain Monday night into Tuesday.

Erin brings challenging conditions for wildfires

Officials on the ground fighting the province’s largest wildfire are fearful of how Hurricane Erin’s winds will stoke the flames.

The Long Lake wildfire complex, in Annapolis County, remains out of control and spans approximately 3,210 hectares in size. Earlier this week, firefighters from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) stated that they expect the blaze to intensify on Friday as Erin’s winds sweep across Nova Scotia.

The most up-to-date information provided by DNR meteorologists suggests that Aug. 22 will be a difficult day for crews.

“Friday seems to be kind of the line in the sand, but we’re doing our best to plan for every operational period,” Dave Steeves, public information officer with DNR, previously said.

Scott Tingley, manager of forest protection with the province, said in his 20 years of experience, officials have never had to monitor a hurricane and wildfire at the same time.

“I guess one benefit with a system is we’ve had quite an advanced notice…We’ve had the advantage of multiple days to prepare,” he said. “There is certainly potential for growth of that fire given the wind patterns that are going to be coming on the weekend.”

The days leading up to Erin’s approach, Steeves noted that crews had done fast work to create even more of a buffer between the blaze and buildings in West Dalhousie. Already, 100 homes are within an evacuation zone.

Smoke from the Long Lake wildfires complex billows into the air. (Province of Nova Scotia)