Tropical Storm Erin is moving quickly and forecast to become the first hurricane of the Atlantic season by the “later this week,” the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said yesterday.
Erin had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and was moving west at 22 mph, according to the NHC in the 11 p.m. EDT update. That was the same strength earlier in the day when the NHC announced the fifth named storm of the season.
Erin was about 560 miles west-northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands in the central Atlantic Ocean near west Africa.
The NHC added that Erin’s storm coordinates show it heading west while some 2 020 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands to the Caribbean.
“It is still too early to determine what impacts, if any, Erin may bring to the northern Leeward Islands, Bermuda or the east coast of the United States,” NHC forecaster Philippe Papin said in a discussion.
An NHC tracking map shows Erin becoming a hurricane by Wednesday. It is then forecast to turn to the northwest from Thursday to Friday and become a major storm on Saturday.
Chad Merrill, an AccuWeather senior meteorologist, said: “Several factors are working in its favour, including lack of dust, warm water and a lack of disruptive breezes (wind shear).”
People in Bermuda and The Bahamas should closely monitor Erin’s progress, Merrill said.
There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect given how far out to sea the storm is now. Tropical force winds extend outward up to 35 miles from the centre.
“It is far too early to determine what, if any, impacts for southeast Georgia and northeast Florida,” NWS Jacksonville said Monday.
The previous four named Atlantic storms this year were Andrea, Barry, Chantal and Dexter. None of them became hurricanes, and Chantal was the only one to make landfall in the United States, causing significant flooding in North Carolina.
Helene struck that state last year as a tropical storm, causing an estimated $53 billion in damage, after hitting western Florida as a Category 4 hurricane.
Four other hurricanes made landfall in the United States in 2024: Beryl, Debby, Francine and Milton. (UPI)
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