As hurricane season ramps back up, eastern Canada 'somewhat protected'

Unexpected weather conditions slowed the formation of Atlantic hurricanes in September, but those patterns have shifted and more storms are expected in the coming weeks.

But there are no immediate concerns for Atlantic Canada, said Chris Fogarty, a meteorologist with the Canadian Hurricane Centre.

"We are somewhat protected right now," Fogarty said.

"We have a big non-tropical low-pressure area coming later this week and weekend, so we are kind of off the hook for at least a week from these systems."

There are currently three named storms in the Atlantic and they are spread all over — there's Kirk in the northeast, Leslie in the southeast, and Milton in the Gulf of Mexico. The spread of the storms is indicative of favourable hurricane conditions over a very wide area, said Fogarty.

Kirk and Leslie are not expected to make landfall as major storms. Milton, however, is forecast to hit the Gulf Coast of Florida later this week before passing over the state and into the Atlantic.

"We will watch Milton," said Fogarty.

"Some of the moisture could get drawn in and could energize this non-tropical storm on the weekend. So we'll keep an eye on that."

The current forecast in Charlottetown for the weekend is a chance of showers.

Beyond a couple of weeks, it is difficult to forecast where storms will form and what their track will be, said Fogarty.

Hurricane season continues until the end of November, and it is expected to remain active.