Tropical rains and strong winds across Newfoundland on Friday evening

Plan for some rain, particularly later Friday afternoon and into Friday night.

Hurricane Melissa is located about 703 kilometres southwest of Bermuda.

The hurricane is expected to transition to a post-tropical storm prior to passing near or south of the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland early on Saturday. If it ends up tracking further west, heavy rain and stronger winds may be felt for parts of the Avalon. There will be large waves and heavy surf for the southern coast of Newfoundland beginning Friday and continuing on Saturday.

A low pressure system over New England will bring rain to most of the Island and enhance any rainfall from Melissa on the Avalon. There is the possibility winds could gust to 100 km/h on Friday night across the Avalon and 120 km/h in the Wreckhouse area.

For southeastern Newfoundland, large waves will arrive and build from the southwest late Friday evening, peaking early Saturday with breaking significant wave heights of 5 to 7 metres forecast. These waves combined with the possibility of storm surge may cause higher than normal water levels particularly along southwest-facing shorelines in the Burin and Avalon Peninsulas beginning Friday night and continuing into Sunday morning.