Environment Canada has issued wind and rainfall warnings as a strong pre-Christmas storm sets its sights on our province.

“The heavy rain and wind will start in the southern half of the province early Monday afternoon, with the storm moving towards Halifax, Truro and eastern Nova Scotia into the evening and overnight,” says Environment Canada Meteorologist Ian Hubbard.

Rainfall is expected to be the heaviest along the Atlantic Coast, with Hubbard saying that communities on the ocean are the most likely to see rainfall totals above 70 millimeters.

Wind speeds are expected to reach up to 100 kilometers per hour at times, and Nova Scotia Power has mobilized extra crews to respond to potential outages caused by downed trees.

“High winds can cause trees to come into contact with power lines damaging equipment and causing power outages,” said Nova Scotia Power Storm Lead Matt Drover. “They can also slow restoration efforts depending on the extent of the damage they cause, and force crews to stand down when winds reach 80km an hour, as it isn’t safe to be up in the buckets.”

As for when the storm is expected to clear up, Hubbard says the wind and rain will begin dying down in the  southern half of the province Monday evening, while for Halifax, Truro and eastern Nova Scotia along with Cape Breton it will occur overnight.

Cancellations

Northumberland Ferries has cancelled all sailings between Nova Scotia and PEI for December 18th.

Marine Atlantic has also called off Monday’s crossings between North Sydney and Port au Basques.

Bay Ferries says trips between Digby and Saint John are cancelled and sailings on that route may also be disrupted December 19th.

As well, the Confederation Bridge has restricted certain classes of vehicles from crossing until further notice.

With files from Steve MacArthur and Kelli Rickard