In a recurring pattern over the last few months, the Maritimes experienced another dousing of rain this past weekend, predominantly affecting the eastern regions. The intensity of the downpour escalated from late Sunday through Monday, saturating eastern Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
Cape Breton bore the brunt of the deluge, with some areas recording staggering amounts over 100mm as of Tuesday afternoon. Prince Edward Island and mainland Nova Scotia also experienced rains with significant cumulative totals ranging between 40 and 90 mm from the course of the weekend through Tuesday afternoon.
An intriguing detail about the recurrent soggy weekends in the region is a trend that, upon retrospective analysis of weather data, can be traced back to the start of July. In this period, weather stations across the Maritimes often reported measurable amounts of rain predominantly occurring over weekends, lasting through mid-October.
Although the intensity varied, with lighter rains and showers yielding just a few millimeters on some weekends, there were several instances of substantial precipitation, cumulating to more than 20, 30, and even 40 mm during others.
Surprisingly, if one were to randomly choose a weekend during the July to October period, it most likely experienced rainfall. This was particularly marked on the weekend of Sept. 16 and 17, coinciding with the passage of Lee as a post-tropical storm.
A brief respite came in the form of two drier consecutive weekends, which occurred from Sept. 23 to 24 and Sept. 30 to Oct. 1 respectively.
Looking forward, forecasts indicate another possibility of rain-soaked weekend, owing to a broad area of low pressure predicted to move north from the eastern US seaboard into the Maritimes. Although the middle of the week is expected to stay mainly dry, the long-range guidance indicates 30 to 75 mm of rain over the weekend, as another weather system takes shape off the eastern US coast on Friday, and advances into the Maritime region from Saturday into Sunday.
In addition to the region’s chronological documentation of its rainy days, it appears the Maritimes will have another soggy weekend to add to the growing tally.
