More On Dorian: Canada Is Next Target, Believe It Or Not

The western eyewall of Hurricane Dorian was brushing the Outer Banks of North Carolina this morning.

Complete destruction in the Bahamas from Hurricane Dorian.
Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

It's unclear whether the eye of Dorian will actually hit land, but conditions were still really rough out there this morning. One town reported a gust of 96 mph.

The National Hurricane Center reported at 7 a.m. Orcacoke, North Carolina had a sustained wind of 69 mph with gusts to 89 mph. 

So more damage is certainly occurring out there on the Outer Banks.

As if Dorian needed to cause more damage.

Four United States deaths have been reported with Dorian. The Associated Press said those deaths were attributed to falls or electrocution as people prepared for the storm. The death toll in Bermuda rose to 30, and will go higher. Survivors have told harrowing stories of people swept away and of houses disintegrating with families inside.

Dorian is now accelerating toward the northeast.  The hurricane, as we know, was notably slow moving, even stalling over the northern Bahamas for a day.

Once hurricanes get as far north as Dorian is now - near North Carolina - mid-latitude westerlies usually pick them up and sweep them northeastward very, very quickly. This will happen with Dorian.

When hurricanes accelerate northward like this, their wind fields expand. Dorian will pass well east of New England, but with its larger size, it will come close enough to prompt a tropical storm warning for Cape Cod and the islands. Winds there could gust to 60 mph late tonight and early Saturday

Dorian looks like it's also going to hit Nova Scotia, Canada on Saturday, and a hurricane warning is in effect there. Strong winds and heavy rain are sure to cause quite a bit of damage in the Canadian province. Environment Canada says winds could reach hurricane force and rainfall might reach six inches.

By tomorrow, Dorian will begin to lose its tropical characteristics, but will still be a powerful storm as it hits Newfoundland on Sunday.

Here in Vermont, we don't expect any effects from Dorian other than clouds and a chance of a few showers east.

Dorian will help drive a couple of cold fronts southward through us, so expect some showers, especially Saturday night with these cold fronts and some cooler than normal weather through at least Monday.

A Frosty June Morning Of All Things In Northern New England.

There was actually frost this morning in the cold hollows of Vermont, New York, New Hampshire and Maine this morning - I guess we needed one final throwback to winter.

A few cold hollows in northern Vermont got a bit of
frost last night. The vast majority of us of course were
frost free. Irises in my St. Albans, Vermont yard appear
to be doing fine. 

Obviously, the vast, vast majority of us did not get close to the freezing point. But I'm sure a few intrepid gardeners in some mountain valleys are mourning dead plants. 

These aren't necessarily overnight lows - it could have actually gotten a degree or two colder - but before 6 a.m. this morning 

I noticed it was 30 degrees in Island Pond, Vermont and Saranac Lake New York. Whitefield, New Hampshire was down to 33 degrees and Morrisville, Vermont was at 34 degrees.

Frost was also reported in some of the cold hollows early Sunday morning, too.

This morning chill is quite a contrast to this very date last year: On June 11, 2017, Burlington, Vermont reached 95 degrees, the hottest for so early in the season. 

It's not going to get that toasty anytime soon, but don't worry, this bit of June cool is going away fast. Under the strong June sunshine, temperatures will race upward and hit the 70s by this afternoon. A number of places will reach 80 degrees tomorrow afternoon. 

To be honest, frost in the northern New England cold hollows in June isn't all that weird. It definitely happens from time to time. It can even happen in July and August.

Historically, there have been much, much sharper June cold snaps than this. According to David Ludlum's Vermont Weather Book, it was 27 degrees in Chelsea and Somerset, Vermont on June 10, 1913. On June 19, 1946, our friends in Somerset got down to 25 degrees, with 27 degrees in Bloomfield. On June 23, 1940, subfreezing temperatures reached as far south as Bennington. 

And I won't even get into the June snow and cold from the Year Without A Summer in 1816. 

So yeah, it could have been a lot worse. 

The cool air we just experienced is another episode in which we got the edges of a very frustrating late spring in parts of eastern Canada. Blasts of cold northern air have hit that region in recent weeks, but mostly missed New England. Back on May 24, there was a snowstorm in parts of New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

Even worse, one week ago, a record late season frost in Nova Scotia wiped out most of the blueberry crop there, and damaged a lot of other crops, such as strawberries, wine grapes, pears and asparagus. Even budding Christmas trees were damaged. Temperatures got into the mid and upper 20s in many parts of that region.

Early reports indicate more frost in and near Nova Scotia this morning. 

 

Wild Images Starting To Come In Of Cape Cod, Nova Scotia "Bomb" Storm

It's quite a ride out on Cape Cod and the Island of Massachusetts and in Nova Scotia as this huge storm does its handiwork.

Not much of a view through the blizzard
near Halifax, Nova Scotia this morning.  

Winds have been gusting to 80 mph around Nantucket.

Some images of the storm have been coming in this morning, so you've got them in this post, updated at around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Another satellite view of this hugely
wound up storm. 

From @hurricanetrack on Twitter, this antique
building under renovation collapsed
in high winds at Chatham Light, Mass this morning.  

A blizzard-blasted brew pub on Nantucket
this morning from @Irisheagle on Twitter.