Fiona hits the Atlantic coast of Canada with strong winds and heavy rain

Fiona made landfall at about 4 a.m. ET between Canso and Guysborough counties in eastern Nova Scotia, Canada, as a very strong post-tropical cyclone.

An unofficial atmospheric pressure of 931.6 megabytes was recorded on Hart Island, making this storm the least pressure on land to ever fall in Canada, according to a tweet posted by the Canadian Hurricane Center. Wind observations were recorded on Beaver Island in eastern Nova Scotia at 94 mph (152 km/h).

Fiona is expected to pass through Cape Breton on Saturday morning and then reach the southeast Labrador Sea by late tonight. This storm will be accompanied by a storm surge, heavy rain, strong winds, and big waves as it races northward at over 40 mph (65 kph).

Forecasters at the Canadian Hurricane Center said Friday afternoon that Fiona is “on track to be a severe weather event here in eastern Canada.” Recent rains have left the area saturated and could bring Fiona the equivalent of one to two months of rain.

“This could be a historic event for Canada in terms of tropical cyclone intensity,” said Chris Fogarty, director of the Canadian Hurricane Center, and it could become Canada’s version of Superstorm Sandy.

Fiona weakened slightly on Friday to a Category 2 storm. Fiona was a Category 4 storm early Wednesday over the Atlantic after passing the Turks and Caicos Islands and remained so until Friday afternoon.