Hurricane Gonzalo expected to bring oceans swells to Nova Scotia

It's shaping up to be another busy day in the weather centre as I continue to track the rain headed our way for Friday and Hurricane Gonzalo over the weekend.

Let's start with the rain. The rain we're getting tomorrow is not directly related to Hurricane Gonzalo. The weather system responsible for the soggy and windy end to the week is a large cold front associated with an area of low pressure centred near Hudson Bay.

There may be an indirect impact on our Friday rain from Gonzalo as the front hangs far enough into the subtropical Atlantic to pick up a bit of moisture from the hurricane.

Rainfall amounts on Friday will be 15 mm to 25 mm for Nova Scotia, 15 mm to 25 mm for New Brunswick with local amounts of 30 to 50 mm possible in western New Brunswick and 10 mm to 20 mm for P.E.I.

It's a pretty good soaking and you'll want to watch for things like reduced visibility on the roads and hydroplaning conditions — and it would be a good idea to check that your drainage isn't blocked with leaves.

The rain will also be accompanied by gusty winds on Friday, some southeast winds gusts up to 60 km/h.

Oceans swells of 2, 3 metres

Confidence is growing that the track of Hurricane Gonzalo will pass outside of Sable Island. Potential impacts in the Maritimes include ocean swells of two to three meters around the Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia on Saturday — so be careful if you're going to be on a beach.

There's a slight chance some of the outer most bands of rain could reach parts of the Eastern Shore and Cape Breton. That would happen late Saturday.

Conditions will be severe in the marine districts that Gonzalo passes through. This would potentially include the East Scotian Slope, Laurentian Fan and the Grand Banks. In those locations, hurricane force winds and significant wave heights of 10 to 15 meters would be experienced during the storm's passage.

The Avalon Peninsula is still at risk of seeing a landfall with the Canadian Hurricane Centre giving Gonzalo a 40 per cent to 50 per cent chance of landfall in Newfoundland.

Concerns for Newfoundland include a damaging storm surge, powerful winds and heavy rainfall amounts.

Gonzalo is expected to move past Bermuda on Friday. It's currently under a Hurricane Warning. Hurricane force winds, a storm surge accompanied by destructive waves and rainfall amounts of 75 mm to 150 mm are all expected for Bermudians on Friday.