No heavy rain expected as parts of the Saint John River hit warning and flood stage

Gagetown, Fredericton, and Jesmeg, N.B., all face flood warnings as river waters rise.

We don’t want to get too dry, too quickly in the spring for the Maritimes. Our driest months are still ahead. That being said, there will be a favourable break when it comes to rain this week as water levels have become higher on parts of the Saint John River.

River Watch Update

As of Tuesday morning, the monitored site of the Saint John River at Gagetown was at flood stage. The water level is forecast to rise slightly over the next two days before gradually falling at the end of the week.

Monitored sites at Fredericton and Jemseg have reached warning level. Neither site is forecast to reach flood stage this week. I have received viewer reports and pictures of some of the walking paths near the river in Fredericton currently under water.

If you are in a flood-prone area, it is important to monitor the river and forecast this time of the year as the situation can change quickly and with little notice.

Rain outlook

A generally cool but not particularly rainy weather pattern is expected for the Maritimes this week. That is good news for the river watch as there won’t be a lot of additional rain feeding into the system while the waters are higher.

There are periods of showers, or at least a chance of showers, this week. However, most long-range guidance doesn’t indicate significant rain through at least Sunday.

A trough of low pressure associated with a slow-moving system east of Cape Cod is expected to bring showers to the Maritimes on Thursday. So far, expected rainfall amounts from that system are less than 5 mm.

Cold nights and mornings

A pool of colder air sitting aloft of the Maritimes will generally produce below average temperatures this week.

Low temperatures Tuesday night into Wednesday morning for the region will fall into a range of -2 to -8, with the coldest conditions in northern New Brunswick. While the following nights are not expected to be as chilly, they will certainly still be brisk.

Temperatures are expected to trend towards near or above seasonable by early next week as the pool of colder air over us shifts out over the North Atlantic.

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