Tropical Storm Philippe could bring another round of strong wind and rain to parts of the U.S. Northeast and Canada’s southeast Atlantic coast this weekend, as the weather system continues on a path heading north in the Atlantic, forecasters said early Friday morning.
As of 5 a.m. Eastern on Friday, Philippe was swirling over the southern Atlantic about 195 miles south of Bermuda, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour and tracking north at around 18 mph.
Tropical Storm Philippe path and forecast
Forecasters expect Philippe to pick up speed as it travels toward the U.S. Northeast and Canada over the next several days.
The National Hurricane Center advisory said the storm was likely to pick up speed through Saturday night and, taking “a turn toward the north-northwest” after passing near Bermuda on Friday, Philippe was forecast to “reach the coast of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, or eastern Maine Saturday night into Sunday.”
NOAA/National Weather Service
The storm is also expected to strengthen gradually as it picks up speed, but meteorologists anticipate Philippe will weaken to a post-tropical cyclone on Saturday as it nears New England and Canada.
For “portions of New York and New England, rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches, with local amounts of 5 inches, are expected with Philippe as it moves through the region this weekend,” the hurricane center said. “Isolated to scattered instances of urban and flash flooding are expected.”
Philippe was expected to bring tropical storm conditions to Bermuda from early Friday morning, with two to four inches of rain expected, the hurricane center said. A tropical storm warning was already in effect for the island.
Large swells were already affecting Bermuda from a different weather system Thursday, and were forecast to grow as Philippe approached the island, the hurricane center said, adding that the confluence of conditions was likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip currents.
Tropical cyclone is an umbrella term that refers to any weather phenomenon characterized by rotating, low-level systems of clouds and thunderstorms that form over tropical or subtropical waters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Once a tropical cyclone’s maximum sustained wind speeds exceed 39 mph, it is considered a tropical storm. A post-tropical cyclone is one that “no longer possesses sufficient tropical characteristics to be considered a tropical cyclone,” the National Weather Service writes, warning that it can carry strong wind and heavy rain either way.