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TS Andrea weakens, but still packing a punch for Atlantic Canada

Tropical Storm Andrea, the first 'named storm' of this year's hurricane season, has already delivered a wallop of rain, wind and even waterspouts and tornadoes to Florida and southern Georgia since yesterday, and it still has its sights squarely set on Nova Scotia for the weekend.

The storm made landfall at Florida's Big Bend at around 5:40 pm ET last night, strengthening just before it arrived to wind speeds of over 100 km/h, dousing parts of the state with up to 150 mm of rain, and spawning several tornadoes and waterspouts before moving on. According to The Miami Herald, one tornado cut a path more than three kilometres long through western Palm Beach County, damaging roofs, uprooting trees and flipping over a 30-foot boat. An 85-year old woman was sent to hospital with serious injuries after debris from the tornado broke through her window.

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Andrea is now churning its way up the east coast, having weakened a bit due to its encounter with Florida, but it's still packing wind speeds of up to 75 km/h as it passes by the Carolinas. According to the Canadian Hurricane Centre it should be weakening today, and although the 'eye' of the storm isn't expected to make landfall in Nova Scotia until sometime Saturday afternoon or evening, the rain and winds are expected to push into Atlantic Canada starting this evening.

Anyone living along the west coast of Cape Breton Island are under a Les Suetes wind warning for Saturday, as wind speeds are expected to get up to 100 km/h or more. The rest of Atlantic Canada won't likely see anything that strong, but gale-force winds are still expected, especially along Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast for Saturday. The rain from Andrea will likely come across in bands of heavy downpours and thunderstorms starting tonight and continuing through Saturday. No warnings are in effect just yet, but between 25 and 45 mm are expected to fall across much of the region by the time the storm passes, with higher amounts possible in some areas.

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Tropical Storm Andrea certainly isn't one of the most powerful storms that's hit Atlantic Canada, but it's still packing a bit of a punch. Although it happened much later in the season, one storm that very closely matches Andrea's path is Tropical Storm Josephine from back in 1996. Although no major impacts were reported from that storm, it did dump between 60 and 70 mm of rain across Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, forced ferry services to shut down due to both high winds and heavy rain, and even damaged powerlines in the Amherst and Fort Lawrence areas.

Any storm of this magnitude can cause disruptions and damages, so they should definitely be taken seriously, and this one is kicking off a season that forecasters are warning could be 'extremely active'. For tips and advice on staying safe during hurricane season, check out Environment Canada's website.

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