Hurricane Noel heads north toward Canada

November 2, 2007

Washington, DC - Hurricane Noel on a northern path toward Canada and losing its tropical storm characteristics.

Hurricane Noel is heading on a path toward Canada and losing its tropical storm characteristics.

As Noel entered the cooler waters of the Atlantic Ocean, it is expected maintain its strength as an extratropical storm that could dump up to 4 inches of rain on the U.S. East Coast.

Noel swept across the Bahamas on Friday as a Category 1 hurricane. Earlier this week, it caused flooding and landslides that killed at least 64 people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti on the island of Hispaniola. Some 37,500 people were forced from their homes on Hispaniola and Cuba.

As of 11 a.m. ET, the center of Noel was about 425 miles (685 km) south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. The hurricane center projects that Noel will remain well off the U.S. coast and cross Nova Scotia overnight Saturday. But forecasters said U.S. residents "from North Carolina northward" should pay attention to Noel's path, and Canadian citizens should consult that nation's hurricane center.

Noel is forecast to dump about an inch of rain over North Carolina's Outer banks and up to 4 inches across eastern New England, with isolated maximum totals of up to 6 inches.