Tech & Science

Canadian Hurricane Center says Hurricane Fiona will be ‘historic, extreme event’

Deadly Hurricane Fiona has strengthened into a Category 4 storm as it barrels toward Canada’s Atlantic coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Karen Graham

Published

September 23, 2022

#GOESEast is monitoring an active Atlantic this morning. In addition to Hurricane #Fiona and Tropical Storm #Gaston in the North Atlantic, we can also see newly-formed Tropical Depression #Nine in the Caribbean along with two other disturbances (yellow). Source -NOAA Satellites

Deadly Hurricane Fiona has strengthened into a Category 4 storm as it barrels toward Canada’s Atlantic coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Officials in Canada’s Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are urging those in the storm’s path to be on high alert and prepare for the impact of the hurricane, which has already claimed the lives of at least five people as it moved through the Caribbean islands.

“The Air Force Hurricane Hunters have been investigating the major hurricane and have found that it remains powerful and very large,” the center said in an update this afternoon.

Footage taken by an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) in the Atlantic Ocean shows the inside of Category 4 Hurricane Fiona.

In a Friday afternoon briefing, Bob Robichaud, a warning preparedness meteorologist with the Canadian Hurricane Center, cautioned people not to focus on the hurricane’s track since its effects will be felt across a swath of eastern Canada.

Environment Canada says this includes much of Nova Scotia, P.E.I., southeastern New Brunswick, western and southwestern Newfoundland, and some parts of Quebec bordering the Gulf of St. Lawrence, reports CBC Canada.

The NHC reported that at 2:00 p.m. EDT, Fiona was 475 miles (770 kilometers) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, with sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph), still moving toward the northeast at 35 mph (56 kph).

Here is the latest update on #Hurricane #Fiona. Weather models continue to indicate that Fiona will make landfall in eastern Nova Scotia early Saturday morning and will produce very heavy rainfall, severe winds, and storm surge. ECCC Canadian Hurricane Center

To explain the size of this massive storm, hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles (185 kilometers) from the center, and tropical-force winds extend outward up to 345 miles (555 kilometers) from the center. This means the storm is 690 miles in diameter, based on its tropical-force winds.

Robichaud said Fiona is bigger than Hurricane Juan, the 2003 storm that pummeled Nova Scotia. It’s similar in size to Hurricane Dorian, which hit Nova Scotia in 2019, but it’s stronger.

“It is certainly going to be a historic, extreme event for Atlantic Canada,” said Robichaud.

In this article:atlantic canada, Canadian Hurricane Center, category 4, extreme event, Historic, Hurricane Fiona, nova scotia

Written By Karen Graham

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.