Post-tropical cyclone Lee is forecast as of Monday, 18SEP to weaken as it moves into the Atlantic Ocean, distancing itself from Canada.
By mid-day Sunday, 17SEP, the storm had traversed past Prince Edward Island, entering the Gulf of St. Lawrence, moving west of the Magdalen Islands towards northern Newfoundland.
“Being such a large storm, some areas are going to feel the winds from this for a few hours to come … but certainly not as strong as it was when it approached the Maritimes so it will continue to weaken,” said Bob Robichaud of the Canadian Hurricane Centre earlier Sunday.
According to the National Hurricane Center, previously a powerful hurricane, Lee sustained winds of 45 mph, heading north after hitting Long Island in Nova Scotia on Saturday, 15SEP.
As Open Jaw reported on 16SEP, Halifax Stanfield Airport suspended flights, with 55 percent of its flights cancelled. YHZ recorded top wind gusts of 117 km/h. Southwest Nova Scotia experienced wind gusts ranging from 90-110 km/h and received 30-60 millimetres of rain. The airport posted on X (formerly Twitter) that although operations have since resumed, anyone with plans to travel should check their flight status with their airline.
Cruises Affected
CBS reported that cruising in the storm's path from the Caribbean last week, north to Canada and New England over the weekend, was affected.
Last week, Royal Caribbean adjusted the schedules for four of its cruise ships in anticipation of the hurricane. This included a ship meant to dock in St. Maarten on Thursday, which couldn't due to the storm's conditions.
Princess Cruise Lines rerouted its ships to avoid Halifax as the storm barrelled northward. The Emerald Princess departed from Saint John's, Newfoundland, and sailed directly to its primary port in Brooklyn, New York. The ship reached its destination a day ahead of schedule on Friday, the cruise line said.
Norwegian Cruise Lines and American Cruise Lines made similar adjustments.
