We in Atlantic Canada just got hammered by Fiona, which many meteorologists following the storm are considering to be a “Superstorm” similar to Sandy which hit the eastern US several years ago.  Normally a storm like this would have passed us by swinging east but an existing trough of low pressure over the maritime essentially pulled it towards us then kept it from losing as much strength as hurricanes normally do before they make it to us.

I’m in Halifax and we’ve got lots of power outages, downed trees, roofs off some older buildings etc but the worst damage seems to be in eastern PEI, Cape Breton and southwestern Newfoundland which took a direct hit.  The damage in these areas is devastating and will be long lasting, especially in coastal communities that would have been inundated by storm surge.

I’ve seen peak gusts reported at 160km/h+ and the lowest ever air pressure recorded in Canada was measured at 932mb (so far, more reports still coming in).  Could you imagine tuning into an ATIS and hearing “altimeter 27.52”?

There have been reports of a weather phenomenon called a “sting jet” appearing on the backend of the storm.  Apparently somewhat rare…basically means more wind in a narrow corridor, in the case >100kts.

I’m pretty lucky as the damage around my area seems minimal and I’m able to make this post thanks to my generator but a lot of people have lost a lot.  All of this on top of the devastating impacts of Fiona on Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

Edit: I’m reading that pressure dropped to 928mb/27.40 just before making landfall.  First hurricane to make landfall at that low of pressure north of Florida since 1851.

Edited September 24, 20223 yr by regis9

Wow! Just, wow! Thanks for sharing this information, Dave. I'm glad to hear that you had the presence of mind to have a generator available, and that you and your family haven't had to bear with the worst of the storm.

Stay safe.

It's bearing down on Anticosti Island now. 

I saw where Trepassey Bay (on Newfoundland's Avalon Penininsula) is at 70 degF air temp right now.  That's pretty warm for them, they're right on the water.  The storm is pulling warm air up on its east side.

Also let's not forget, just a day or two ago this storm was in the tropics, it moved quickly from Bermuda to Nova Scotia.  It didn't have time to degrade that much.  I wonder how Sable Island fared.

You are not out of the woods yet, there is still a mass of heavy precip just off the coast of Nova Scotia, and probably some nasty squalls in that. 

I haven’t heard an update on Sable Island today.  Yesterday Parks Canada said they had four people remaining on the island.  Apparently they don’t do a full evacuation unless it’s category 4 or worse.  I assume from that they’ve gamed it out and can be confident that they have the shelter etc needed to keep everyone safe.

It would certainly be a scary place to be in a hurricane I’m sure though!  It’s a long ways away from assistance or anything else.

I've been following the hurricanes on WindyT.  They have a window dedicated to hurricanes and tropical storms.

Now I'm looking at the one headed for Florida.

Glad to hear you fared pretty well considering your neighbors in PEI.

Noel

I've been looking at all the disturbances on WindyT.

Looks like Fionia is going to hit Sisimiut Greenland on Tuesday.

Tropical Storm Gaston was headed out into the Atlantic but has made a U-Turn and is headed back toward the Caribbean.

Hurricane Ian is supposed to reach Florida on Thursday.

Tropical Storm Newton was climbing up the west coast of Mexico but has turned west out into the Pacific.

Tropical Storm Hermoine hasn't decided yet whether to turn west into the Atlantic or continue to the Canary Islands.

Tropical Depression 941 is spinning around in the mid-Atlantic try do decide which way to go.

I have never seen so much activity at once or the weird behavior of these storms.

Noel

 

 

3 hours ago, birdguy said:

I have never seen so much activity at once or the weird behavior of these storms.

Canada Hurricanes pre-1900 to 1949:

• September 9, 1775: The 1775 Newfoundland hurricane killed over 4,000 in Newfoundland. Not only is it the earliest recorded Canadian hurricane, it is also by far the deadliest.
• October 10–11, 1804: The 1804 Snow hurricane unusually blanketed parts of Canada with snow after striking New England.
• August 23, 1863: A Category 1 hurricane hit Nova Scotia just before losing tropical characteristics.
• September 23–24, 1866: A hurricane hit Newfoundland after weakening from a Category 2 hurricane.
• October 5, 1869: The 1869 Saxby Gale struck Canada's Bay of Fundy region damaging parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, killing 37 people offshore.
• October 13, 1871: A hurricane hit Nova Scotia.
• August 26, 1873: The Nova Scotia Hurricane of 1873 drifted south of Nova Scotia as a Category 3 hurricane. It weakened to a Category 1 before slowly making landfall in Newfoundland. It was a devastating hurricane that killed over 600. Damage in Nova Scotia was severe. It destroyed over 1,200 boats and over 900 homes and businesses. This is one of Nova Scotia's worst cyclones.
• October 1882: Remnants of a hurricane hit Labrador, resulting in 140 deaths.
• August 26, 1883: A Category 1 hurricane passed offshore Newfoundland, resulting in 80 deaths.
• August 23, 1886: A major hurricane weakened to a Category 1 hurricane before crossing Newfoundland as a hurricane.
• September 8, 1891: A hurricane struck both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland as a Category 1 hurricane.
• August 18, 1893: A hurricane struck Newfoundland with 90 mph (145 km/h) winds.

1900–1949

• September 12–14, 1900: After leaving behind a trail of devastation in the United States, the 1900 Galveston hurricane affected six Canadian provinces as a powerful extratropical cyclone, killing 52–232 people, mainly due to shipwrecks.
• August 8, 1926: The 1926 Nova Scotia hurricane made landfall in Nova Scotia as an extratropical storm, killing 55–58 people.
• August 24, 1927: The 1927 Nova Scotia hurricane made landfall in Nova Scotia as a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph (165 km/h) winds, causing immense damage, reaching $1.6 million (1927 USD), and killed 172–193 people.
• August 26, 1935: A Category 1 hurricane strikes Newfoundland as an extratropical storm, resulting in major damage and at least 50 offshore deaths.
• September 26, 1937: The extratropical remnant of a hurricane caused damage in Nova Scotia. The storm was moving swiftly, so most of the damage was strictly wind related.
• September 21, 1938: The 1938 New England hurricane tracked into Canada, bringing strong winds to eastern Ontario and southern Quebec. Damage was primarily limited to trees and power lines; structural damage was minimal. This storm, along with Hurricane Hazel in 1954, was one of the few hurricanes to cause hurricane-force winds in Canada's interior.
• October 18, 1939: After a long respite from hurricanes in Newfoundland, a hurricane struck the island as a Category 1 hurricane. No one died, but considerable damage was done to trees, boats, and buildings.
• September 17, 1940: The 1940 Nova Scotia hurricane struck Nova Scotia as a Category 1 hurricane before weakening.

To see a list of United States hurricanes since the 1800s go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_hurricanes

Like I've said before, we're biased to our own short lifetimes, so when there are a lot of hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, etc. in a particular year or decade, we tend to think that it's unusual or unprecedented.  If we had reliable records before the 1800s I'm sure we'd see that these things have always happened and some years are worse than others.

Dave

 

 

4 hours ago, birdguy said:

I have never seen so much activity at once or the weird behavior of these storms.

Noel

Well it's been a fairly inactive hurricane season up until now.  So law of averages, it was more likely we'd have a lot of activity before the fronts started coming in from the NW to quell the sea temps and warm airmasses, which should happen in October.

Dave, you listed a couple hundred years of hurricanes.  What I listed are all happening right now...TODAY...in the Atlantic.  I've never seen so many AT THE SAME TIME.  Plus another one in the Pacific that looks like it will just miss Japan.  Or any moving as erratically as a couple of these are.

Log onto WindyT and look for yourself.

Noel

I'm not concerned in the least about the Atlantic presently. Where I live we are threatened by the possibility of a Cat 3 or 4 hitting where I live next week. Stores are empty of goods, gas lines are ridiculous, and people are going nuts. 

Please pray for us. I remember every Hurricane since 1960 when Donna devastated us. These are not news items folks. These are tragic. 

Stay safe for those of you in the eastern Canada.  Hopefully all can get the power back asap.  and clean up too.

Good luck and my prayers from Toronto.

Traveled to Halifax twice and loved it there and the seafood...amazing, oh and as well as Antigonish too.

Yesterday's pressure reading was low, around A2890 and dropping every hour, when I loaded up METAR around midnight last night.

11 hours ago, 188AHC said:

Where I live we are threatened by the possibility of a Cat 3 or 4 hitting where I live next week.

Yeah, the Euro model shows Ian hitting western Florida near Tampa.

The GFS model has it making landfall in the Florida panhandle and coming right up close to where I live in Alabama.  We're far enough off the coast that it would weaken to a cat 1 or tropical storm by the time it reaches us, but still nothing to scoff at.

Wish you folks the best.

Dave

This reminds me of Charlie. Pretty concerned. 

We live not far away from where the strongest wind gusts in Nova Scotia were recorded (171 km/hr). We are fine but the damage in town is massive.  Still no power,  it may take until Wednesday. People who live here for 50 years say they have never seen anything like this. 

Glad you are ok!