Hurricane Isaac Heads North in Atlantic; Newfoundland Under Watch
Posted on: Sunday, 1 October 2006, 18:00 CDT
MIAMI (CP) - A tropical storm watch was issued for southeastern Newfoundland and Labrador on Sunday as hurricane Isaac moved north in the Atlantic, forecasters said.
At 2 p.m. EDT, Isaac had top sustained winds near 129 kilometres an hour, up from 121 km/h on Saturday, when it became the fifth hurricane of the Atlantic season, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Isaac was moving north near 27 km/h, and a turn to the north-northeast was expected in the next day. The storm also was forecast to speed up and begin weakening in the next 24 hours.
Isaac was forecast to reach Newfoundland sometime Monday evening, but was expected to start affecting the region's weather earlier in the day.
Meteorologist Ming Szeto of the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Dartmouth, N.S., said Isaac should be downgraded from a hurricane to an extra-tropical storm by then, but he said it could still produce some nasty weather.
"Right now it looks like the eastern half or southeastern areas of Newfoundland will be the heaviest hit," Szeto said in an interview Sunday. "In terms of the rain and wind, that will be actually quite a bit ahead of the system."
Szeto predicted wind gusts of up to 90 km/h, with 40 to 60 millimetres of rain falling by the end of the day Monday. Rainfall warnings were issued for most of southeastern Newfoundland.
The centre of the storm was expected to stay out to sea, passing east of St. John's late Monday night or early Tuesday.
Forecasters were also calling for rain in the Maritime provinces, but said it would be related to a separate weather system.
It still wasn't clear how Isaac would compare with tropical storm Florence, which hit southeastern Newfoundland more than two weeks ago.
Florence toppled trees, knocked out power and caused flooding. The storm even swept a house in the tiny community of Francois into the Atlantic.
The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.
Source: Canadian Press
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