Wet, windy weather this weekend in Nova Scotia

The weather has certainly been gloomy, damp and windy over the past 10 days in Nova Scotia and it's going to continue this weekend. 

Unfortunately, not everyone has been experiencing the benefits of this relentless locked-in, unsettled pattern. The bulk of the wet weather has been falling across northeastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, with totals of 30 to 60 millimetres plus since Remembrance Day.

Meanwhile, the southwestern half of the province has stayed mostly dry. 

The good news is our incoming system is looking set to bring a more widespread rainfall Friday and into Saturday, with lingering showers into Sunday.

Expected rainfall

While some uncertainty remains, most of the province is set to see at least 20 to 40 millimetres by Sunday evening with higher totals likely in eastern areas.

The bulk of this rain is expected to fall Friday night and Saturday morning.

Easterly winds will also kick in on Friday and ramp up overnight and into Saturday morning, where gusts in the 50 to 70 km/h range look likely for most of the mainland. Stronger gusts of 80 to 90 km/h are possible along the Atlantic coastline from near Halifax to the eastern shore and also across Cape Breton. The Les Suetes winds could reach 120 km/h in Inverness county. 

Wind, rain and pattern change

As the system moves out, we'll see chilly northwest winds punch into the province for Sunday. Gusts of 40 to 60 km/h look likely, with some stronger gusts possible in the southwest.

A blocking high to our north, which has been the catalyst for our locked-in unsettled weather, is breaking down over the next few days. That will open the door for a more variable weather pattern to begin through next week.

We'll return to a more typical — systems come and systems go — type of setup with more opportunities for some sun, while at the same time keeping the needed rainfall in the mix as well.

As we look even further ahead, long-range forecast models are signalling that the first week of December may even turn cooler than average. 

While there's still some uncertainty, a crisp start to the month is looking more likely, which would also bring the potential to see some snow. 

I'll keep you posted on this in the coming days.