Hurricane Larry made landfall in eastern Newfoundland near South East Bight overnight as a Category 1 storm, knocking out power to about 60,000 customers throughout St. John’s and the surrounding area.
Strong winds, heavy rainfall, and an unexpectedly high storm surge kept Hurricane warnings in place until about 5:00 a.m. this morning. The strongest observed peak wind gust was on a lighthouse in Cape St. Mary’s where a wind gust of 113 mph (182 km/h) was recorded.
There were some trees uprooted as well as buildings and other infrastructure damaged. Bay Roberts Mayor Philip Wood told CBC News that the biggest damage the town suffered was to its softball field. Wood said the field’s dugouts were “completely annihilated.”
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and the City of St. John’s are asking the public to remain off the roads to minimize any risk to public safety due to downed power lines and debris.
“The priority for city crews at this time is to address streets and major road hazards,” the City of St. John’s said in a statement.
As of 11:00 a.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center has downgraded Larry to a post-tropical Cyclone. It is now over the Labrador Sea. Larry is still packing maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph), and is moving swiftly to the north-northeast at 48 mph (78 kph).
Larry is still expected to merge with an extratropical low, either tonight or early on Sunday. Larry may survive long enough to bring drenching rain and high-elevation snow to Greenland later this weekend.
New areas of tropical development
One area will be watched for tropical development near the Cabo Verde Islands this weekend to early next week. The environment appears to be favorable to this disorganized system becoming a tropical depression. The chance of any formation is 50 percent at this time.
Another area near southeastern Mexico and the western Gulf of Mexico is being monitored for possible development late this weekend into next week. This system will be producing heavy rains across Central America and the Yucatan Peninsula this weekend.
By later this weekend, heavy rains may reach coastal Texas, and on up into Louisiana, impacting these areas into the middle of next week. This new Gulf concern has a high probability of further development, ranked right now at 80 percent.
Digital Journal will be providing updates on these developing systems.
