Scotia soaked as chill hits NE USA by Alex Deakin
High pressure over Greenland has allowed a vigorous area of low pressure to stall off the Gulf of Maine. This is giving some very unsettled weather across north-eastern parts of the States and eastern regions of Canada.
The low pressure is bringing many bands of rain in from the Atlantic, which have been lashing the Canadian region of Nova Scotia since the weekend. The rain has amounted to as much as 200 mm in the area of Bridgewater, which is well above it’s May average. So much rain has fallen that a local state of emergency was declared yesterday in the area. Fancy Lake has been hit particularly badly, where water levels are at the highest point that locals can remember. The ground is so saturated with rain water that any rain that does fall now ‘runs-off’ straight into the lake, which then fills up much quicker. Many of the residents of Bridgewater have been evacuated to shelters, for safety, a few miles south of the lake. The current estimated cost for the clean-up in the area just around Fancy Lake is estimated around $1 million.
The low pressure is pulling in air from the northeast, Labrador Sea, where sea temperatures are well below average. Sea surface temperatures are only 7C, some 4 degrees below the usual for the time of year making the air very cold.
This air has brought a distinctive chill across the Boston and New York areas, where in Boston people are still wearing their winter fleeces. On Tuesday the temperature reached a paltry 8C (46F) compared to the average of 15C. The average for the month is currently running at 11C (52F) only about 1C from being their coldest May on record.
It is expected to continue cold and wet for the next few days, but looks as though it should start to improve into the beginning of next week with temperatures in Boston expected to hit a comparatively balmy 23C (73F).
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