Dorian has been downgraded to a post-tropical storm, but parts of Newfoundland remain under weather warnings as the storm makes its way through the west coast, up to the Northern Peninsula, through Sunday.
As post-tropical storm Dorian moves its way through western Newfoundland, after walloping the Maritime provinces, people should prepare for high winds and storm surges.
Environment Canada still has a hurricane warning in effect for much of the western and southwestern regions of Newfoundland, as well as the south coast of Labrador.
Wind warnings were extended late Sunday morning to include the Bonavista region.
Wind gusts up to 150 km/h should be expected in coastal areas, according to the latest forecast, with storm surges of up to a metre high.
Nasty morning out on the Gulf of St. Lawerence. #nlwx pic.twitter.com/2ustXvMIZw
“That’s going to be the big issue of the day,” says Doug Mercer, senior meteorologist with the Canadian Hurricane Centre.
The wind and possibility of storm surges later on Sunday are the main points of concern, Mercer said, as the storm’s centre moves through the Strait of Belle Isle by around 3 p.m. NT.
In Stephenville and along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, people were reporting increasingly gusty winds, as well as rain starting late Sunday morning.
“You’re going to have a band of southwesterlies that are forecast to be hurricane force, and as the storm moves up into the Strait and nears the coast, those winds are going to be picking up,” he said.
“The strongest winds, I would expect, would be somewhere near Corner Brook, moving up toward the Parson’s Pond-Hawke’s Bay region, then it may drop off a little bit as it gets up toward St. Anthony.”
Unplanned power outages due to weather are being reported in the Rose Blanche area, as well as in Pasadena and along the north shore of the Bay of Islands, according to the Newfoundland Power website.
Rainfall amounts are not expected to be high, Mercer said, adding the area where the most rain can be expected is the south coast of Labrador.
As the storm moves northward, winds will make their way further inland into the Baie Verte Peninsula, and possibly into the Bay of Exploits, Mercer said.
By 9 p.m., Dorian’s storm system will be tracking north of St. Anthony before moving off into the North Atlantic.
In Irishtown-Summerside. Power out. Wind up to crazy gust levels. #nlwx #dorian pic.twitter.com/g1ya4UEFgP
Waves will be between four and seven metres due to Hurricane Dorian, Environment Canada says.
The storm is tracking its way over the eastern Gulf of St. Lawrence Sunday morning, before moving up to the Northern Peninsula in the afternoon.
Marine Atlantic’s scheduled crossings for Sunday have been cancelled and moved to Monday.
Overnight Saturday, heavy rain caused some water buildup on roads in parts of Newfoundland.
Dorian wreaked havoc through the rest of Atlantic Canada on Saturday, toppling trees, blowing roofs off homes, and even knocking over a massive industrial crane onto a building in the middle of Halifax.
Another video, some water building up on the roads from the heavy rain. #nlwx #grandfallswindsor #dorian pic.twitter.com/nXspptj42f
It whipped through Nova Scotia as a Category 2 hurricane, with gusts up to 141 km/h; the warning was diminished to a post-tropical storm around 7:30 p.m. NT as it made landfall in Halifax.
Nearly 400,000 customers in Nova Scotia are still without power Sunday morning, according to Nova Scotia Power’s outage listing website.
The Dorian storm system had whipped through coastal areas of North and South Carolina last week, after tearing through the Bahamas.
The storm had destroyed more than 13,000 homes and is being blamed for at least 20 deaths.
