Post-tropical cyclone Lee makes landfall in Nova Scotia, Canada
Published:Saturday | September 16, 2023 | 3:33 PM
BAR HARBOR, Maine (AP) — The centre of post-tropical cyclone Lee made landfall Saturday in Nova Scotia, Canada, with sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph), US weather officials said Saturday.
The storm's centre moved ashore about 135 miles (215 kilometres) west of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the US National Hurricane Center. That's about 50 miles (80 kilometres) southeast of Eastport, Maine.
Once a hurricane and still almost as strong as one, Lee brought high winds, rough surf and torrential rains Saturday to a large swath of New England and Maritime Canada, toppling trees, swamping coastlines and cutting power to tens of thousands.
Many denizens shrugged off Lee, now a post-tropical cyclone, as not much worse than the region's famous and frequent nor'easters, a similarity some meteorologists acknowledged even while warning people not to underestimate it.
The storm's centre made landfall in Canada at near hurricane strength on Saturday afternoon, then was expected to weaken as it moved into New Brunswick and the Gulf of St Lawrence, forecasters said.
In the United States, a tropical storm warning was in effect for a 230-mile stretch from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to the eastern end of Maine. That included Bar Harbor, the touristy gateway to Acadia National Park, where officials closed a parking lot at a pier as high tide moved in and waves crashed against seawalls.
Lee flooded coastal roads and boats in Nova Scotia, knocked down power lines and trees, and took ferries out of service as it fanned anxiety in a region still reeling from wildfires and severe flooding this summer. Nova Scotia's largest airport, Halifax Stanfield International, had no incoming or outgoing flights scheduled Saturday.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for much of New Brunswick and all of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, along with a hurricane watch for parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
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