Gonzalo officially the Atlantic's strongest storm since 2011, what does that mean for Canada?

Wednesday, October 15, 2014, 6:00 PM - It’s the strongest Atlantic tropical system since Hurricane Ophelia three years ago.

Hurricane Gonzalo reached category 4 status on Wednesday continuing its forecasted strengthening. Bermuda will be impacted by the storm Thursday night into Friday with an impact to Atlantic Canada over the weekend.

A Hurricane Warning is in place from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) for Bermuda and the Canadian Hurricane Centre (CHC) is issuing statements about impacts this weekend for Atlantic Canada.

Current model guidance came into better agreement on Wednesday converging on a solution that would have Gonzalo indeed impacting Newfoundland this coming weekend. The big question is where Gonzalo will make “landfall” in Newfoundland, if it does at all. Wednesday’s track maps from both the CHC and NHC bring the “centre” of Gonzalo across the Avalon Peninsula sometime late Saturday.

The words “landfall” and “centre” are both in quotation marks because, and was typically happens when tropical systems get to this latitude, they begin to lose their tropical characteristics. When this occurs, the storms take on names like “post-tropical” or “extra-tropical”. This doesn’t mean the storm can’t still pack a punch but the scientific terminology is different.

EXPERT: Gonzalo beats path for Newfoundland

Latest guidance indicates that Gonzalo will likely begin a transition from tropical to post-tropical and it moves toward and across Canadian waters Friday through Saturday. As Gonzalo approaches and continues to weaken and transition, it will also pick up speed. By the time Gonzalo reaches Canadian waters, it will have a much faster forward speed than it did while it was in the tropics.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR CANADA?