AccuWeather.com

By Meghan Evans, Meteorologist

Sep 5, 2010; 6:00 AM ET

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Hurricane Earl sprung to life as a hurricane last Sunday, first slamming the northeastern Caribbean Islands with battering waves, high winds and torrential rainfall on Monday.

The hurricane then moved on to bring similar impacts to the East Coast of the United States, starting on Thursday, before making landfall as a tropical storm in Nova Scotia, Canada, early on Saturday.

The storm finally lost steam and weakened into a remnant low as it raced through Atlantic Canada late on Saturday.

Still, rainfall will be enhanced across northern Quebec and Labrador as the remnant low shifts north of Labrador today. Refer to AccuWeather.com Canada for radar images in Canada and more details on the forecast.

Earl's Impact in Caribbean Islands

After being named a hurricane on Sunday morning, August 29, Earl continued to ramp up rapidly, reaching major Category 4 status with maximum-sustained winds of 135 mph by Monday evening.

The major hurricane tracked from the northern Leeward Islands on Monday morning to just north of the Virgin Islands during the afternoon. Into Monday night, Earl began tracking farther northwest, passing about 100 miles north of Puerto Rico.

Islands hit particularly hard by major Hurricane Earl on Monday were Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla and St. Martin.

Roofs of homes were torn off, trees were downed and numerous power outages were caused by the hurricane's powerful winds.

St. Martin was lashed by wind gusts up to 88 mph, while 69-mph wind gusts and 3.02 inches of rain was delivered to St. Thomas.

Downpours from Earl led to flash flooding and mudslides across portions of Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico, got soaked by nearly 4 inches of rain as the area was whipped by 45-mph wind gusts.

Earl's Impact in the U.S.

By the time Earl approached the North Carolina Coast late on Thursday and Thursday night, he was a Category 2 hurricane.

A wind gust of 70 mph was recorded in Manteo, N.C., where winds tore the canopy of a gas station completely off, while Cape Hatteras was soaked by 4.52 inches of rain.

Tropical storm-force wind gusts were measured along the coast from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to New Jersey as Earl passed by to the east on Friday.

Meanwhile, rough surf pounded the coastline, washing out beaches and surging towards beach-front homes and roadways. Some surfers braved the vicious waves, but most onlookers chose to remain at a distance as the waves roared in.

Rough waves at the seacoast of Portsmouth, N.H., on Saturday morning as Earl churned to the east of New England. Photo courtesy of AccuWeather.com Facebook fan Rick Alviso.

Though Earl weakened from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm on Friday night as it passed south and east of New England, it was still able to bring damaging winds, battering waves and heavy rain to parts of the region. The damage was on par with a moderate nor'easter.

There were numerous reports of downed trees and flooded roadways across southeastern New England with most reports coming out of the Cape Cod area.

Wind gusts near 60 mph lashed Hyannis and Nantucket, Mass., while the storm's rainbands spread over eastern New England from south-to-north on Friday night.

Rainfall totals generally ranged from 2 to 4 inches across the region with local amounts over 6 inches on Martha's Vineyard.

Rain and gusty winds continued to lash eastern Maine into the early afternoon hours of Saturday.

Bangor, Maine, received a record rainfall of 3.31 inches on Saturday, shattering the old daily record of 1.47 inches set in 2003.

Earl's Impact in Atlantic Canada

Earl made landfall as a tropical storm near Western Head, Nova Scotia, around 10 a.m. on Saturday morning.

High winds that buffeted Nova Scotia and Prince Edwards Island led to power outages of over 150,000 customers and 9,000 customers in these Canadian provinces, respectively.

Maximum wind gusts along the Nova Scotia coast early Saturday:

-76 mph on McNabs Island

-75 mph in Halifax

-75 mph on Beaver Island

Rough surf, coastal flooding and flooding of low-lying inland areas of Atlantic Canada on Saturday.

As the storm sped northward, it spread heavy rain and gusty winds into Newfoundland, eastern Quebec, and Labrador late on Saturday. In between Labrador and Newfoundland is where Earl finally met his demise.

Rainfall will continue to be enhanced across Labrador today as the remnant low of Earl speeds north of the province.

Content contributed by Meteorologists Alex Sosnowski, Katie Storbeck, and Heather Buchman

Content also contributed by Vickie Frantz, Staff Writer

Related to the Story:

Earl Weakened to a Remnant Low over Atlantic Canada

2010 Hurricane Center

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