Dual storms could drop 80 mm of rain on parts of New Brunswick

A wet weekend is in store for much of the province as back-to-back systems slam the province on Friday and Saturday.

Environment Canada has issued special weather statements for all but the northwest of the province and upgraded statements to rainfall warnings along the Bay of Fundy coast.

Rainfall amounts up to 80 millimetres are expected by the end of the day Saturday.

"It's kind of a one-two punch — we've got two rounds of rainfall," said CBC meteorologist Ryan Snoddon.

"So we're kind of getting two systems back to back here."

Up to 100 mm of rain

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Heavy rain was already coming down in some areas Friday afternoon.

Snoddon said the brunt of the twin storms will be felt along the Fundy coast.

"There's pretty good consensus that we're going to be seeing 50 mm to 75 mm there," said Snoddon.

"In fact, local amounts in those heaviest pockets of rain … run the risk of seeing up to 100 mm."

While the highest rainfall totals are expected along the Fundy coast, other areas in the south may get more than 50 mm by Saturday evening.

There is also a moderate risk of local flooding because of the rain, but it will be mitigated by the length of time between storms.

Wet followed by wind

Following the rain, Environment Canada is warning of the potential of strong winds overnight Saturday and into Sunday adding a wind warning "may be required."

Snoddon said wind gusts could be as high as 110 kilometres an hour in Saint John, 85 km/h in Fredericton and 80 km/h in Moncton.

But one plus for residents is the lack of leaves still on the trees in many areas, which should minimize the chance power will be lost. 

"I think the potential for outages is a little less than it would've been a few weeks ago," Snoddon said. 

"There's always a risk when we're talking about winds that are going to be gusting in those areas along the Fundy coast."