Hurricane Kyle hits Nova Scotia, becomes extratropical

Hurricane Kyle made landfall this evening near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, with 75 mph winds enhanced by a 30 mph forward speed, but then weakened and was declared extratropical at 11:00 PM EDT as it passed over the Digby area.

Kyle’s track, and its tropical-storm-force wind field as of 11pm EDT.

Radar and satellite reveal that most of Kyle’s rain is on the west side of the center, over Maine and New Brunswick (with some additional bands several hundred miles to the east, near and over Cape Breton Island). Here’s another radar view, and here’s a look at some Doppler-estimated storm totals.

The strongest winds, waves and storm surge, however, will have been just east of the center, in Kyle’s right-front quadrant, where the storm’s forward motion of 30 mph must be added to the estimated maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (now down to 70 mph as of 11pm). In addition, Kyle hit near high tide, increasing the likelihood of coastal flooding.

Here is what Dr. Jeff Masters wrote this afternoon about Kyle’s damage potential:

A landfall intensity of 60-65 mph is a good bet. Winds of this level should cause widespread power outages and tree damage over western Nova Scotia, but only light structural damage. Kyle’s expected storm surge of 1-2 feet should not cause major flooding, but its large 10-foot high battering waves could cause considerable coastal erosion. Kyle is moving fast enough that rains are only expected to be 2-4 inches, which should not cause major river flooding.

The 11pm advisory was the National Hurricane Center’s last on the now-extratropical storm, which is expected to move north as a strong non-tropical cyclone, crossing the Bay of Fundy into New Brunswick and eventually Quebec.

For coverage of Kyle’s impact, go to CTV, CBC, the Chronicle Herald of Halifax, the Toronto Star, and the Globe and Mail.

Meanwhile, in Texas, more than 400 people are still missing two weeks after Hurricane Ike hit, including about 60 who lived on the Bolivar Peninsula, which was so devastated by Ike’s storm surge that some places looked like they were hit by a nuclear bomb. I’m afraid the death toll — currently at 31 in Texas — will rise substantially when all is said and done.