 Karen quickly weakened as it moved over cooler waters , and late on October 14 it degenerated back into a tropical storm as it accelerated northward . Convection gradually decreased , and Karen made landfall on southwestern Nova Scotia with winds of 45 mph ( 70 km / h ) on October 15 . Karen retained its tropical characteristics during and after making landfall , based on a research flight out of Halifax intended to study the early stages of extratropical transition . The flight reported arced bands and a warm @-@ core system transitioning into a more typical mid @-@ latitude system . Under the influence of a mid @-@ latitude system , the storm turned sharply to the northeast , and after losing the remaining of its convection it became extratropical shortly after landfall . Continuing northward , the remnant low quickly weakened , and dissipated as it was absorbed by a larger extratropical storm over the Gulf of Saint Lawrence . 
