Haligonians urged to monitor forecast for Fiona

The Canadian Hurricane Centre is expecting the storm to move up into Canadian territory later in the week

CITYnews halifax \ Meghan Groff

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Haligonians are being asked to monitor the forecast as we approach the weekend.

It appears Hurricane Fiona could be headed our way.

The Canadian Hurricane Centre has issued a tropical cyclone information statement Tuesday morning, cautioning of a “large and potent post-tropical storm by Saturday.”

“We are expecting it to move up into Canadian territory later in the week, sometime later on Friday,” explained Canadian Hurricane Centre meteorologist Ian Hubbard.

“So we’re going to be keeping a very close eye on things and how that track progresses as the week moves forward.”

The latest track as of noon Tuesday shows Fiona’s cone of uncertainty basically stretching from the Halifax area to Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula.

“What you’re seeing right now certainly isn’t pinpointed exactly,” Hubbard explained.

“That cone of uncertainty still covers a very wide range,” he added. “When we’re looking at four days out, we’re still looking at over 250 km either side of that line that’s on the map.”

Fiona has strengthened to a Category 3 storm, becoming the first major hurricane of this year’s Atlantic season, and it’s thought she could intensify to a Category 4.

The hurricane has already torn through the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, and is now targeting Turks and Caicos.

“It looks like, as it moves up into our marine areas, it could still possibly be a hurricane,” Hubbard said. “But it will start its extra-tropical transition.”

“Now we’ll see some weakening of the storm, but … post-tropical systems are still able to produce a lot of strong winds and a lot of rain for areas. Even though it may not still be called a hurricane by then, it’s still something to be cautious of.”

But we still don’t know exactly which regions will be impacted, but with a storm that’s “quite large,” the “impact area will be very broad,” according to the information statement.

“Certainly as it tracks through Atlantic Canada, wherever that’s going to be, we could start to see some deteriorating conditions during the overnight period Friday, and probably continue on into Saturday,” Hubbard said.

“Of course the big question is, how strong will winds be from this and how much rain will areas receive from this.”