Monday, September 21, 2020

100-foot waves possible offshore as Hurricane Teddy nears East Coast


Digital Writers 


Once a major Category 3 hurricane, Teddy is slowly losing strength as it nears the Atlantic provinces, on a track over cooler waters. People in the region shouldn't be complacent, however: although the storm will possibly be post-tropical by the time it actually reaches land, it will still pack a serious punch, with strong winds, very high seas and torrential downpours all in the hopper, beginning Tuesday morning before the storm's actual arrival. Read below for more details.

Hurricane Teddy continues to weaken, with further decreasing in strength expected, but still boasted winds of 155 km/h as of Monday morning, keeping it just over the Category 2 threshold still.

Teddy shifted to a northerly track Sunday night and the centre will trek east of Bermuda early Monday morning before it begins its approach towards Atlantic Canada. A tropical storm warning is currently in effect for Bermuda.
© Provided by The Weather Network

By late Monday, Teddy is expected to be picked up by a deep upper-level trough that will allow for a brief intensification. Teddy will undergo a transition to post-tropical status as it approaches Atlantic Canada, impacting the region likely as a strong post-tropical cyclone.

While it is expected to track through eastern Nova Scotia by late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, rain and wind impacts could begin pushing into the province Tuesday morning.

Tropical storm watches are now in effect for Atlantic coastal regions of Nova Scotia including Halifax.

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Large swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, extending several hundreds of kilometres from the centre of the storm. Significant wave heights and storm surge is expected to continue into Wednesday for coastal sections of Atlantic provinces.

The Weather Network meteorologist Tyler Hamilton says that towering waves over 30 metres (100 feet) are possible on Tuesday morning as Teddy approaches. Hamilton says that these waves would be roughly the height of the 7th storey on an apartment and will occur within a couple hundred kilometres south of the Scotian Shelf.
© Provided by The Weather Network

An extremely large wind field associated with Teddy is likely to spread moderate to strong winds onshore. The strongest, and potentially damaging wind gusts, are expected to impact coastal Nova Scotia and Newfoundland through Wednesday.

As Hurricane Teddy moves into Canadian waters, there is a reasonable chance of hurricane-force winds near and south of the track, mainly over southern Atlantic Canada forecast waters. Tropical storm-force winds are likely farther north into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and southern coastal Newfoundland.

The heaviest rainfall amounts are likely north-northwest of the track of the storm, impacting areas such as eastern Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The effects of Teddy are expected to continue into late Wednesday for Newfoundland.
© Provided by The Weather Network

WATCH BELOW: HIGHEST WINDS STAY OFF THE COAST DURING TEDDY, CANADIAN HURRICANE CENTRE SAYS
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/weather/topstories/100-foot-waves-possible-offshore-as-hurricane-teddy-nears-east-coast/ar-BB19g0mD?ocid=msedgdhp

The last landfalling tropical system in Atlantic Canada was last year's Dorian, which made landfall in Nova Scotia as a Category 1-equivalent extratropical storm on September 7th, and later on made a second landfall in Newfoundland.

As the situation has the potential to be impactful, continue to check back for updates as we keep an eye on Teddy's movements.

Hurricane Teddy to bear down on Canada after brushing Bermuda

By UPI Staff & Adam Douty, AccuWeather, Accuweather.com

The powerful Hurricane Teddy is forecast to hit Atlantic Canada later this week. Image courtesy of NOAA

Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Less than one week after feeling the full force of Hurricane Paulette, residents of Bermuda were preparing for a strike from powerful Hurricane Teddy, which unlike Paulette, may take a path that could eventually bring impacts to Atlantic Canada and perhaps the northeastern United States.

Paulette brought a wind gust of 117 mph to Bermuda and an island-wide power outage when it passed directly overhead Sunday night into early Monday. More than 20,000 customers were without power following Paulette's approach.

After passing to the east of Bermuda through Monday, powerful Hurricane Teddy will set its sights on Atlantic Canada for the middle of the week.

Teddy first developed in the central Atlantic on Saturday, Sept. 12. On Friday night, Teddy strengthened into a Category 4 major hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Laura is the only other Atlantic storm to achieve major hurricane status so far this season.

As of 5 p.m. AST Monday, the storm was about 175 miles east-northeast of Bermuda, packing maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. It was traveling north at 24 mph.

The government of Bermuda issued a tropical storm warning for the island nation while the Canadian Hurricane Center extended the tropical storm watch east from Canso to Main-a-Dieu, Nova Scotia.

"Little change in strength is expected during the next day or so," the NHC advisory said. "Gradual weakening is forecast to being mid-week, but the cyclone is expected to remain a large and powerful hurricane Tuesday, then become a strong post-tropical cyclone when it nears Nova Scotia by Wednesday morning.

Teddy is currently forecast to be more intense than Paulette as it makes its closest approach to Bermuda.

The impacts, however, will depend on how close the center of the storm passes to the islands. The closer the center of the storm, the greater the impacts will be.

AccuWeather's current Eye Path takes Teddy just east of the islands. This would spare Bermuda from the worst conditions Teddy has to offer. Should the track shift west, the core of strongest wind and heaviest rain could impact the islands.

However, even a glancing blow by Teddy can still have significant impact on the islands due to the hurricane's current large size.

After passing Bermuda, Teddy is expected to continue to meander on a generally northern track, which would cause the hurricane to approach Atlantic Canada or northern New England around Tuesday afternoon.

"If Teddy takes a northerly track, areas from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland would be the most likely to see impacts. Teddy may still be a hurricane at this time with impacts including potentially damaging wind gusts, heavy rainfall and pounding surf," Miller explained.
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On this track, 2-4 inches of rain would be widespread across Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Locally heavier rainfall could fall where the center of the storm tracks.

If Teddy makes landfall as a Category 1 or 2 hurricane, widespread wind damage and power outages would result.

Dorian tracked across Atlantic Canada in early September of 2019 and brought widespread wind damage to Atlantic Canada. Teddy has the potential to bring similar results should it remain on its current forecast track.

Residents should begin to make appropriate preparations as this appears to be the most likely scenario.

Another scenario would have Teddy track farther to the east and miss Atlantic Canada on the storm's trek into the North Atlantic.

These appear to be the two most likely scenarios.

"There remains the chance that Teddy is pulled more to the northwest and could impact northern New England before curving across Atlantic Canada and into the North Atlantic," Miller said.

This could bring strong winds, heavy rain and coastal flooding to much of the New England coastline.

A hurricane has never hit Maine from any direction other than from the southwest, according to AccuWeather Senior Weather Editor Jesse Ferrell.

"Only eight hurricanes have hit Maine on record with only three of those since 1950," Ferrell said. "Bob in 1991 was the most recent and only the Unnamed 1869 hurricane, Bob and Gerda from 1969 were Category 2 when they hit with the remaining storms being Category 1 strength."

According to Colorado State University Meteorologist Phil Klotzbach, the average date for the second major hurricane formation in the Atlantic is Oct. 3.

Regardless of the final track and impacts from Teddy, even if the hurricane remains out to sea, forecasters warn that rough surf and dangerous rip currents are possible along the New England and mid-Atlantic coasts this weekend and early next week.

Small craft should avoid venturing too far offshore as monstrous waves could develop from and propagate toward the coast from the large hurricane.

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