Early on September 12, the NHC began to monitor a tropical wave over the central tropical Atlantic for gradual development, though environmental conditions for development were assessed as only marginally favorable.[109] Even so, shower and thunderstorm activity within the disturbance began to become more concentrated later that same day,[110] then increased and became better organized during the next day.[111] The circulation associated with the system became more defined and persisted overnight and into the morning of September 14, attaining sufficient organization to designated as Tropical Depression Seven later that day.[112] Despite the continued effects of moderate westerly shear and dry mid-level air flow,[113] new satellite imagery indicated the depression had strengthened, thus at 01:45 UTC on September 15, it became Tropical Storm Fiona.[114] The storm moved over Guadeloupe as a 50 mph (85 km/h) tropical storm around 00:00 UTC on September 16 and then entered the eastern Caribbean.[115] Early on September 18, the storm strengthened into a hurricane as it approached Puerto Rico,[116] before making landfall there that afternoon about 15 mi (25 km) south-southeast of Mayaguez, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h).[117] It then emerged over the Mona Passage, and strengthened slightly further before making landfall near Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic, with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 km/h).[118] Fiona weakened slightly as it moved overland, but began to rapidly strengthen once back over water, becoming a category 2 hurricane by 21:00 UTC on September 19,[119] and then a Category 3 major hurricane early the next morning near Grand Turk Island.[6] Further intensification resulted in it reaching Category 4 strength with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (210 km/h) at 06:00 UTC on September 21,[120] while moving northward across very warm waters with surface temperatures of 84–86 °F (29–30 °C).[121][122] Fiona's winds then held steady for a couple of days while its central pressure dropped to 932 mbar (27.52 inHg) at 00:00 UTC on September 22,[123] the hurricane's peak intensity as a tropical cyclone. Fiona's wind field also began to grow in size and tropical storm-strength winds impacted Bermuda for several hours on September 23, despite Fiona passing well west of the island.[124] Fiona, weakened to a Category 3 hurricane that morning,[125] but briefly rebounded to Category 4 strength several hours later as it moved northeastward at about 35 mph (56 km/h),[126] before weakening once more to a Category 3 strength late that same day.[127] Shortly thereafter, Fiona weakened again before turning northward and quickly transitioning into a large and powerful post-tropical cyclone as it approached the coast of Nova Scotia at 03:00 UTC on September 24.[128] Soon thereafter, the system made landfall in eastern Nova Scotia 07:00 UTC with 100 mph (160 km/h) and a pressure of 931 mbar (27.49 inHg), slowing rapidly as it did so.[129] It then moved over Cape Breton Island with hurricane strength winds, although it continued to weaken as it moved northward.[130] When the NHC issued its final advisory on Fiona at 21:00 UTC that same day, it was centered about 80 mi (130 km) northwest of Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, and had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 km/h).[131] Altogether, at least 22 deaths have been attributed to Fiona. One death was confirmed in Guadeloupe, while at least two deaths were confirmed in the Dominican Republic and three in Canada.[121][132] In Puerto Rico, as of September 24, the Department of Health had confirmed 16 deaths related to the path of the system.[133][134] Still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Maria in 2017, torrential rains fell island-wide on September 18–19, up to 25 in (640 mm) in some regions, causing destructive flash flooding that washed out roads and bridges. In addition, the effects of the storm resulted in the island-wide power grid being knocked out.[118][135] In Canada, homes and businesses across The Maritimes, Quebec's North Coast and Newfoundland were destroyed and several hundred thousand people were left without power in Fiona's wake.[132] Credit to Force Thirteen for the music and intro idea and also and outro
