11, when it reached the Avalon Peninsula in eastern Newfoundland, where cold, dry air became entrenched in its circulation, and the system began to merge with the approaching trough. The NHC issued their final advisory on Hurricane Luis at 0900 UTC on September 11, 1995. The hurricane sped at nearly to the northeast before transitioning into an extratropical cyclone. The extratropical remains persisted for 30 more hours over the North Atlantic Ocean before being absorbed by the trough near the southern coast of Greenland late on September 12. Preparations Three days before passing over the northern Lesser Antilles, Luis became a Category 4 hurricane and was forecasted to avoid areas well to the north, following the path set by Humberto and Karen. However, as Karen neared Iris, it was weakened and absorbed by the stronger storm. This, and the nearby subtropical ridge, ended up steering Luis to the west. Caribbean Due to its slow motion, Luis allowed local officials ample time to prepare. Before the storm's arrival, a total of 17 tropical cyclone watches and warnings were declared in several areas throughout the Caribbean. Over the course of September 3, Antigua, Barbuda, Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Martin, Saba, St. Eustatius, Dominica, Guadeloupe, and St. Barthelemy were placed under hurricane watch. At 0000 UTC on September 4, this was upgraded to a hurricane warning for the region from Antigua to St. Martin, and a tropical storm warning for Dominica and Guadeloupe. Six hours later, the British and United States Virgin Islands, as well as Puerto Rico, were placed under hurricane watch. By 2100 UTC, those regions had been upgraded to warning, as well as St. Barthelemy, St. Martin, and Dominica, with Saint Lucia and Martinique under a tropical storm warning. At 1200 UTC on September 5, the tropical storm warning for St. Lucia was discontinued, and nine hours later, Dominica was downgraded to a tropical storm warning. Throughout September 6-8, all warnings were either downgraded or discontinued. Bermuda was placed under tropical storm watch at 2100 UTC on September 7. This watch was upgraded to a warning at 1500 UTC the next day, and discontinued at 0900 UTC on the 10th. Canada The Canadian Hurricane Centre began issuing advisories on the morning of September 8, about 48 hours before Luis' entry into the center's coverage area, as the storm's trajectory began to curve east of Florida. The Maritimes center of the