Historic landfall: Hurricane Fiona to hit Atlantic Canada

Fiona could be one of the strongest storms on record to hit Canada this weekend.

Hurricane Fiona is due to begin pivoting north-eastwards, before accelerating towards eastern Canada over the weekend, with a direct hit due on the Atlantic coast.

The major hurricane still holds its category 4 status, however is due to transition to a post-tropical storm as it hurtles towards eastern Canada.

Though losing its tropical status, that does not mean the storm will come without force, and the transition looks to come at a very late stage prior to landfall. Around 300km south of Nova Scotia, Fiona could still be maintaining category 3 strength, unusually far north.

Weather models are indicating the central pressure of Fiona could drop around 10mb lower than ever recorded in Canada before, as it makes landfall around Nova Scotia. The lowest sea level pressure ever recorded in the country is 940.2mb, making this an exceptionally rare storm.

Fiona's wind field will be rather wide at landfall, with wind speeds of 100-120mph possible at landfall. This would threaten widespread devastation and power outages from such damaging winds, also alongside torrential rain and large waves.

Regardless of the status that Fiona holds at landfall, this storm has the potential to be one of the worst in Canadian history.