Friday, August 16, 2024
Studying Time: 3 minutes
After battering Puerto Rico with torrential rain, Hurricane Ernesto is now heading towards Bermuda for its closest strike in nearly 4 years. The storm might additionally brush components of Atlantic Canada early subsequent week, following its flooding rains and damaging winds that hammered Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles.
Presently, Ernesto is centered over 500 miles south-southwest of Bermuda and is transferring north. Regardless of battling dry air since first changing into a hurricane early Wednesday, Ernesto has held regular at Class 1 wind depth, with hurricane-force winds steadily rising and now extending as much as 60 miles from its middle.
In a single day, Ernesto intensified, with winds now reaching 85 mph. The storm is predicted to quickly strengthen over open waters, doubtlessly reaching near-major hurricane standing by Friday earlier than its middle passes near or over Bermuda on Saturday, in keeping with the most recent advisory from the Nationwide Hurricane Middle.
A significant hurricane is classed as one with sustained winds of no less than 111 mph, categorizing it as a Class 3 storm or greater. AccuWeather predicts that Ernesto will attain no less than Class 3 standing by Friday because it approaches Bermuda.
In preparation, a hurricane warning was issued early Thursday morning for Bermuda, signaling that hurricane-force winds are anticipated, usually inside 36 hours of tropical storm-force winds. Domestically heavy rain is feasible in Bermuda into Friday, with tropical storm-force winds anticipated to reach Friday afternoon. All preparations needs to be accomplished earlier than these deteriorating circumstances arrive.
Ernesto’s middle is forecast to move shut sufficient to Bermuda on Saturday to deliver hurricane circumstances. The storm may also briefly gradual because it approaches, that means its impacts are prone to final by Saturday night time, probably into Sunday morning earlier than it leaves. Bermuda can anticipate excessive winds, flooding rain, storm surge, and battering waves, with as much as 12 inches of rain attainable by early Sunday, in keeping with the NHC.
After leaving Bermuda, Ernesto will curl northeast and transfer a lot sooner. Whereas there’s typical uncertainty in its precise observe, it might find yourself shut sufficient to far jap Nova Scotia and/or Newfoundland by Monday to deliver no less than some winds, rain, and waves alongside the coast because it transitions from a hurricane to a post-tropical cyclone.
Regardless of staying nicely off the U.S. East Coast, Ernesto’s swells are anticipated to generate harmful rip currents from Florida to the Northeast by this weekend. Beachgoers alongside the U.S. East Coast ought to stay conscious of this menace.
This newest storm within the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season fashioned simply over per week after Hurricane Debby made landfall on Florida’s Large Bend on Monday, August 5. On Thursday, August 14, the Nationwide Hurricane Middle unveiled its new “cone of concern” for Hurricane Ernesto.
You gained’t discover many variations between the unique and new cones for Ernesto, besides that the brand new model consists of wind warnings for inside counties, not simply coastal ones.
Each cones can be found on the Hurricane Middle’s web site. To view the brand new cone, go to the graphics web page for Hurricane Ernesto and click on on the New Experimental Cone highlighted in purple.
“The most significant change to the cone is the inclusion of inland wind warnings, which the National Weather Service has issued for years,” mentioned Nationwide Hurricane Middle Deputy Director Jamie Rhome.
“We’re integrating that information into the NHC cone for a more comprehensive view of the threat so people don’t have to check two different websites. All the information is now seamlessly combined.”
Notable modifications embrace:
- Watches and warnings now cowl inland counties, not simply coastal areas.
- The whole five-day forecast is shaded in white transparently, changing the white stippling (dots) beforehand used for the four- and five-day forecast.
