In anticipation of tropical storm Leslie which is forecast for the area, Eastern School District advises that all schools within the Eastern School District system will be closed tomorrow morning, Sept. 11. The district will provide a further update at 11 a.m. Tuesday morning. According to the latest forecast from Environment Canada, tropical storm conditions are expected throughout the East Coast on Tuesday. For the Clarenville area and the Bonavista Peninsula, winds of 63 km/h or more are expected during the day. Environment Canada, in their latest report at 3:30, said a trough of low pressure has stalled near the west coast of Newfoundland and will remain nearly stationary as it interacts with tropical storm Leslie approaching Newfoundland from the south.
This trough will accelerate and steer Leslie toward Southeastern Newfoundland where it is expected to make landfall as a marginal hurricane or strong tropical storm later Tuesday morning. "As Leslie interacts with the trough it will enhance the heavy rainfall already occurring with the trough as well as strengthen the winds behind it," says Environment Canada. "However the strongest winds are most likely just to the right of Leslie's track at landfall where southeasterly gusts of 120 km/hour are currently expected." Hurricane watches are in effect for the areas most likely to see these right-of-track winds. Rain, at times heavy, associated with the trough will continue for Western Newfoundland tonight and into Tuesday with the forecasted arrival of tropical storm Leslie. Some areas on the west coast have already reported between 40 and 70 millimeters and in areas with the heaviest rain a further 100 millimetres is possible over the next 24 hours.
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