Hurricane Larry will produce snow measured in feet

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Yes, you read that right. A hurricane producing feet of snow. It’s already been a crazy year for tropical systems, so why not?

This year is already ahead of the storm pace, with 13 nominated. On average, we don’t see 13 named storms until the end of the season.
Hurricane-force winds are not uncommon in Greenland, but hurricanes that bring a lot of snow are.

Hurricane Larry is expected to slide over the east coast of Greenland this weekend. When it gets there, it will have sustained winds of around 60 to 70 mph, with gusts of up to 85 mph. Larry’s hurricane-force wind will likely produce blizzard conditions across Greenland, although Larry may lose the tropical aspects of a hurricane by then.

“Larry is expected to become an extratropical cyclone on Saturday and is now expected to be absorbed by a larger extratropical low near Greenland by the end of the weekend,” the National Hurricane Center said.

The term extratropical has to do with the core of the storm. A hurricane has a warm core, while an extratropical (or post-tropical) has a cold core.

Cold-core systems produce weather characteristics such as cold fronts and warm fronts – terms people are more familiar with. Hot-core systems produce weather features such as eyes, eye walls, and outer bands.

As Larry interacts with this other system, he will be able to attract an enormous amount of moisture, which will lead to heavy snowfall in Greenland.

Widespread totals of 12-18 inches are expected in the eastern half of the island nation. Higher elevations along the east coast could reach 2 to 4 feet or more.

Hurricane Larry could bring feet of snow to Greenland.
While it’s rare for tropical systems to help trigger snow, it’s not uncommon. In fact, last year only Hurricane Zeta brought snow to the northeastern United States, including several inches to Massachusetts.
What makes Larry a little more unusual is the timing. Zeta struck at the end of October. The same was true for super storm Sandy, which also helped produce snowfall in October 2012.

Landing as a hurricane in Canada first

In the short term, Larry will put the United States and Canada ahead of Greenland.

“Significant Larry swells will continue to affect Bermuda, the east coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada through Saturday. These swells are likely to cause potentially fatal surf and break current conditions.” said the National Hurricane Center.

While Larry is expected to gradually weaken on Friday as it moves through the colder waters of the North Atlantic, it is still expected to maintain the strength of the hurricane until it passes Newfoundland.

Destructive winds, dangerous storm surges and heavy precipitation are also expected in Newfoundland.

“These winds are likely to bring down some trees (leading to the downfall of utility lines), damage signage and cause property damage to roofing materials, siding, fencing and exterior fixtures,” warned the Canadian Hurricane Center. “Secure loose items on your property and anticipate power outages.”
Canada is no stranger to systems that undergo a post-tropical or extratropical transition, but still produce hurricane-force winds. In September 2019, Hurricane Dorian made landfall in the Canadian Maritimes as a Category 1 equivalent extratropical storm.

What makes Larry interesting is that he might be able to make landfall in Canada before he goes extratropical. Landing is scheduled for late Friday evening or early Saturday morning in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is predicted to be a Category 1 hurricane.

Larry is a large hurricane with hurricane force winds extending outward 90 miles from the center. Even after his transition to the extratropical, Larry is expected to remain tall.

The Canadian Hurricane Center extended the tropical storm warning along the south coast of southeastern Newfoundland west to Francois and along the north coast of southeastern Newfoundland -New to Fogo Island.

CNN meteorologists Chad Myers and Brandon Miller contributed to this story.



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