Risk and timing of thunderstorms in the Maritimes on Thursday

An Ontario thunderstorm can be seen in this undated file photo. (Courtesy: Ernie Szelepcsenyi)

Thursday thunderstorms

Showers along with a risk of thunderstorms will return to the Maritimes on Thursday as a cold front approaches from the west.

The front is moving through southern Ontario and southern Quebec on Wednesday, triggering thunderstorms in those provinces. Some of the thunderstorms became severe, packing wind gusts up to 90 km/h and downpours producing rain rates of up to 50 mm/hr.

While the Maritimes won’t be as primed for severe thunderstorms as Ontario and Quebec Thursday, there is still reason to have some weather awareness on that day. If we do end up with some severe thunderstorms in the region Thursday, they could produce similar hazards along with lightning, which is dangerous any time.

Thunderstorm timing

Showers are expected to develop across New Brunswick late Thursday morning through afternoon. The showers will be moving across Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island Thursday evening and night. A risk of thunderstorms will accompany the showers.

The highest chance of thunderstorms will be in New Brunswick and Prince County, P.E.I., Thursday afternoon and evening. There will be a lower chance of thunderstorms for the remainder of P.E.I. and Nova Scotia Thursday evening and night.

As above, if any severe thunderstorms develop, the most likely hazards would be strong wind gusts, downpours, and lightning.

What follows for the weekend

There will be isolated showers for P.E.I. and northern/eastern areas of Nova Scotia on Friday.

Humidity falls Friday into Saturday. The weekend forecast is mostly sunny at this time.

We will be back to some summer scorchers by Sunday and early next week. It looks like daytime highs will be back into the high 20s and low 30s. Temperatures will be in the low-to-mid 20s for coastal areas where wind is directly onshore, off ocean waters. That looks to be mostly for parts of the Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy coastline of New Brunswick.