FloridImagine.Com Blog

Tropical storm Erika has formed in the Atlantic. Here’s what the National Hurricane Center had at 5am:

AT 500 AM AST…0900 UTC…THE POORLY-DEFINED CENTER OF TROPICAL
STORM ERIKA WAS ESTIMATED NEAR LATITUDE 17.0 NORTH…LONGITUDE 59.0
WEST OR ABOUT 280 MILES…455 KM…EAST-SOUTHEAST OF THE NORTHERN
LEEWARD ISLANDS.

ERIKA HAS BEEN MOVING GENERALLY WESTWARD NEAR 5 MPH…7 KM/HR…AND
A WEST-NORTHWESTWARD MOTION AT A SLIGHTLY FASTER FORWARD SPEED IS
EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. ON THE FORECAST TRACK THE
CENTER WILL PASS NEAR OR OVER THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS DURING
THE NEXT DAY OR SO.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 50 MPH…85 KM/HR…WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. SOME STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

The latest five day forecast track has the storm just north of the Bahamas by Sunday. We’ll be watching.

Tropical Storm Fay is heading away from the Dominican Republic and toward the center of Cuba. The current forecast track has the storm turning into a hurricane and raking the west coast of Florida by mid-week.

AT 800 AM EDT…1200 UTC…THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM FAY WAS
LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 18.8 NORTH…LONGITUDE 72.8 WEST OR ABOUT 35
MILES… 55 KM…WEST-NORTHWEST OF PORT AU PRINCE HAITI AND ABOUT
170 MILES…275 KM…EAST-SOUTHEAST OF GUANTANAMO CUBA.

FAY IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 14 MPH…22 KM/HR. A TURN TOWARD
THE WEST-NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY…FOLLOWED BY A TURN
TOWARD THE NORTHWEST BY SUNDAY NIGHT. ON THIS TRACK…THE CENTER
OF FAY WILL MOVE ACROSS HAITI THIS MORNING…AND WILL BE MOVING
NEAR THE SOUTHERN COAST OF EASTERN AND CENTRAL CUBA TONIGHT AND
SUNDAY.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a hurricane to watch out for. Stay tuned.