Just one week before Christmas, and we’ve got a weather system to tell you about.
It will not blanket the area in white, though.
A wet, windy and warm weather system is on its way to the province.
Environment Canada has now upgraded its alerts to rainfall and wind warnings for much of the southern part of the province.
“It’s going to be the wind associated with the system that’s really going to be the most hazardous. We are expecting the strongest winds through southern areas, especially on the Bay of Fundy coast. They could be up to 100 kilometres per hour, maybe even localized gusts higher than that. Through the southern areas, southerly gusts up to 80 kilometres per hour, and even further north, it’s still 70 to 80 kilometres per hour,” Environment Canada Jill Maepea told our newsroom.
“We will see some rain with the system, 15 to 30 millimetres across north and central areas. Along the Bay of Fundy, we are looking at 30 to 40 millimetres, maybe locally higher,” Maepea added.
The system is expected to begin moving into the region tomorrow and last until Saturday, and it’s expected to bring double-digit temperatures with it as well.
“We’ve had a few of these systems come through in December. We’ll definitely see those temperatures rise into double digits throughout many areas of the province, approaching up to 14 or 15 degrees with that southerly flow. This will happen late Friday afternoon or Friday evening, but then the temperature will fall throughout Friday night, and by Saturday morning, all areas will be below zero,” Maepea stated.
With the high winds, there is a risk of power outages across the province.
For those who are concerned about a White Christmas, Maepea says to the north, the rain probably won’t take away all of the snow. In the south, we could see our snow cover disappear, but Maepea says there’s still a chance with a bit of snow in the forecast on the 21st.
“Possibly even another system on the 24th of December that could bring some snow again. Still lots of uncertainty, but the chances of snow still exist between now and Christmas,” Maepea encouraged.
