Hurricane Arthur weakens to tropical storm as it progresses to Nova Scotia

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/05/hurricane-arthur-tropical-storm-nova-scotia

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Hurricane Arthur, now a post-tropical cyclone, is on the move toward Nova Scotia on Saturday after battering North Carolina’s shoreline and foiling Fourth of July celebrations in cities and towns along the US northeast coast on Friday.

Arthur’s eye is expected to pass near or over western Nova Scotia on Saturday morning, and over the Gulf of St Lawrence Saturday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami (NHC).

The storm's maximum sustained winds were about 65 mph on Saturday morning, and moving at about 23 mph. The storm was located about 50 miles northwest of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia as of Saturday morning.

Arthur made landfall on Thursday night as a category 2 storm with winds of 100mph, leaving widespread power outages. Despite causing minimal damage, Arthur knocked out power in more than 44,000 North Carolina homes, ripped apart trees and caused flash flooding.

No casualties or serious injuries have been reported.

After touching down, an abated Arthur was then downgraded to a category 1 storm on Friday as it moved away from land. It traveled northward on Friday, bringing heavy rain and fierce winds.

But the weather cleared in time for the nation’s largest fireworks display, Macy’s Fourth of July Spectacular in New York City, which was held this year on the East River. Fireworks in some coastal towns, including East Providence and Warwick, Rhode Island, were postponed to Saturday.