Heavy rain, freezing rain on the way to Nova Scotia for Saturday

A storm tracking into the Maritimes overnight and Saturday will bring snow, ice pellets, freezing rain and rain, with Nova Scotia set to bear the brunt of the heaviest rainfall.

Environment and Climate Change Canada issued freezing rain and rainfall warnings for all parts of the province on Friday night.

With a stream of moisture set to track in from the south, a widespread 40 to 80 millimetres of rain is looking likely by Sunday morning.

While forecast models remain at odds with where exactly the heaviest bands of rain will track, there's the possibility that some areas could see more 80 millimetres locally.

Isolated thunderstorms can't be ruled out within the heaviest bands of rain.

With the ground frozen, that heavy rain will bring the potential for localized flooding, especially early in the event. The rain will hit the concrete like ground and run off to low lying areas with nowhere else to go.

Temperatures will climb into the double digits late Friday and into Saturday. That, along with the rain, will help soften the ground.

Southerly winds are set to gust 60-80+ km/h on Friday afternoon, evening and overnight, which will lead to the potential of power outages.

The strongest winds will ease on Saturday, however, the rain at times heavy will continue through Saturday night and into Sunday morning. 

Freezing rain threat

As our system departs to the east, temperatures will fall below freezing on Saturday night. This will create the potential for a prolonged period of freezing rain across parts of Nova Scotia Saturday night and Sunday.

With temperatures expected to hover near the freezing mark, there is still plenty of uncertainty with this setup. Stay tuned for updates. 

A new developing system will continue to keep the region unsettled into early next week.