Cyclone Arthur pelted parts of far eastern Maine and southeastern Canada with heavy rain and strong winds yeterday as the storm that had been a hurricane swept away from southern New England.
Arthur, which weakened to a tropical storm yesterday morning, had earlier reached Category 2 hurricane status and made landfall on North Carolina’s Outer Banks late on Thursday, snarling plans for tourists at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
North Carolina reported only slight damage from the hurricane, which quickly travelled northeast and yesterday morning was centered about 80km north-northwest of the Canadian town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, the US, National Hurricane Centre said.
“It has lost some strength, although it still has 65 mph winds,' said Daniel Brown, a senior hurricane specialist at the US National Hurricane Centre.
“Basically, it lost its tropical characteristics and has become more a wintertime type low.”
The centre of Arthur was expected to eventually move near or over western Nova Scotia and over the Gulf of St Lawrence.
The storm was moving to the north-northeast at about 37kph at 8am Eastern Time and was expected to slow down and weaken over the next day or more, the centre said.
Arthur was the first hurricane to hit the US since Superstorm Sandy devastated New York and New Jersey in October 2012, causing an estimated $70 billion in damage.
In Maine, some communities reported power outages and trees down, but no injuries, said Dustin Jordan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine.
There were power outages and trees down but no injuries
The Weather Service received unofficial reports of nearly 12.7cm in the eastern tip of Maine.
Arthur hit landfall with top sustained winds of 160kph, earning a Category 2 status on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. It weakened to a Category 1 as it moved northeast into colder waters of the Atlantic Ocean with 145kph top sustained winds.
The storm had lashed the popular Massachusetts summer resort island of Nantucket with powerful winds and heavy rain on Friday night.
In Boston, the famed Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, already moved up a day due to the weather, was cut short on Thursday by heavy rain and lightning.
Arthur cut power to almost 20,000 homes and businesses, downed trees and cut off barrier islands from the mainland after making landfall on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.