Rough weather rolls through Eastern Canada; Melissa expected to miss Newfoundland

Your Morning meteorologist Kelsey McEwen has an update on the Halloween forecast, including ‘ragged’ remnants of Hurricane Melissa causing weather warnings in A

HALIFAX — A sprawling Halloween storm stretched across Eastern Canada on Friday, lashing five provinces with strong winds and rain, while drawing tropical moisture from Hurricane Melissa.

By late afternoon in the Atlantic region, Melissa had transformed into a post-tropical storm over the open Atlantic. Even though Melissa was no longer a hurricane, it was churning out hurricane-force winds at 130 kilometres per hour as it sped toward the edge of eastern Newfoundland.

About 1,100 kilometres to the northwest, a separate low-pressure system moved into Maine earlier in the day, and then trudged into southern Quebec. For most of the day, it dumped rain on southern and eastern Quebec and a wide swath of eastern and central Ontario.

Rainfall warnings were issued for both provinces, where 40 to 80 millimetres of rain was in the forecast, with the heaviest rain expected in parts of southern Quebec.

By 11 a.m. EDT, Ottawa had recorded 50.9 mm, Kingston, Ont., had 44.3 mm and Grenadier Island in eastern Ontario led the way with 55.1 mm. In Quebec, 42 mm fell at the Montreal airport by 11 a.m., and 43 mm was recorded in Laval, Que., with Saint-Calixte in southern Quebec reporting the most rain at 77 mm.

“If we look to the north, some of that heavier rain is wrapping around the northern side of the storm and then kicking back over Quebec and Ontario,” said Bob Robichaud, a senior meteorologist at the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Dartmouth, N.S.

At one point on Friday afternoon, radar images showed rainfall extending 1,600 kilometres, from Toronto to the southwestern tip of Newfoundland.

In the Maritimes, some power outages were reported and residents were warned to bring in or deflate their Halloween decorations as the winds ramped up.

In Nova Scotia, southeasterly gusts were expected to top 70 km/h along the Atlantic coast, where total rainfall was forecast to reach between 50 and 80 mm. In southern New Brunswick, the same amount of rainfall was expected, with easterly gusts reaching 60 km/h along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy.

A southeasterly gust at 75 km/h was recorded along the Halifax waterfront at 11 a.m. Stronger gusts were reported at the entrance to the city’s harbour.

“Wet and windy conditions may create lower visibility and increased hazards like slippery sidewalks and debris on streets,” Nova Scotia’s Emergency Management Department said in a statement.

Emergency Management Minister Kim Masland issued a statement aimed at youngsters. “So hold onto your hats and walk carefully with an adult,” she said. “The candy will taste all the sweeter when everyone is safe.”

The rain, however, stopped and the wind eased up before suppertime in central and western parts of Nova Scotia, as well as southern New Brunswick, creating a window of opportunity for trick-or-treaters.

Those living in northern New Brunswick, P.E.I. and eastern Nova Scotia, however, weren’t expected to be so lucky. The slow-moving storm was expected to linger over those areas.

Gusty winds were expected to persist across the Maritimes on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the hurricane centre issued a statement saying Melissa was expected to pass close to the southeastern edge of Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula on Friday night and into Saturday.

“It’s going to be close,” said Robichaud. “But the really strong winds associated with the storm are to the right of the track. So any kind of scenario where the centre of that storm stays east of the Avalon, they just won’t get into those stronger winds.”

Still, gusts up to 90 km/h were predicted for the southern and eastern regions of the peninsula, with a period of heavy rain that could last between three to six hours. As well, waves could reach as high as seven metres along the peninsula’s southwest coast.

But if the storm’s track was to move to the west, there is a chance that parts of the Avalon could see stronger gusts.

On Saturday, strong southwesterly winds are expected to sweep across the province. “So it’s going to be blustery, but certainly the Avalon Peninsula has seen a lot worse than what they’re going to get,” Robichaud said.

Melissa made landfall in southwest Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane with maximum wind speeds reaching 295 km/h. It tied strength records for Atlantic hurricanes making landfall, both in wind speed and barometric pressure. The hurricane has been blamed for at least 19 deaths in Jamaica and 31 in nearby Haiti.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2025.

— With files from The Associated Press.