Diminished Earl unleashes final fury over eastern Canada.
Washington - Tropical Storm Earl was lashing coastal areas of eastern Canada with strong winds and heavy rain but causing minimal damage late Saturday as its strength rapidly faded.
Typical of tropical storms losing energy, Earl was racing north- eastward over the Gulf of Saint Lawrence at 75 kilometres per hour, the Miami-based US National Hurricane Centre said.
At 8 pm (0000 Sunday GMT), the eye of the storm was 90 kilometres south-south-west of Cape Whittle, Quebec.
Once a category four hurricane, the second-highest rating on a five-step scale, with maximum sustained winds of 220 kilometres per hour, Earl diminished to a tropical storm on Friday and by late Saturday was packing maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometres per hour.
During the week, Earl rolled up the Atlantic Coast of the United States from North Carolina to New England, closing beaches and delivering rough weather but remaining mostly offshore and causing relatively little damage.
Beaches along the entire Eastern Seaboard remained potentially hazardous over the weekend with strong riptides reported from Florida to Maine, even as Earl's strength was quickly dissipating.
Tropical storm warnings were still in force in Canada for parts of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, the Magdalen Islands and Newfoundland. Earl's winds at tropical storm force still extended 400 kilometres in all directions.
The storm was forecast to cross the south-eastern tip of Quebec and Newfoundland overnight Saturday. The National Hurricane Centre said that Earl was likely to continue weakening overnight, losing its tropical storm rating.
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