2023-09-24 14:11:45
Tropical Storm Phillippe is expected to gradually gain strength and a new system that emerged off Africa might become a tropical depression by midweek, according to National Hurricane Center forecasters.
As of 11 a.m. Sunday, Phillipe was located regarding 1,155 miles west of Africa’s Cabo Verde Islands, moving west at 12 mph with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. The same general motion, but slightly slower, is expected over the next few days as the storm gradually strengthens, however, its precise path is uncertain. Some models show it strengthening during the next few days, while others show it weakening as a result of the shear from an upper-level trough
It is currently expected to curve north before reaching South Florida, with that likely occurring mid-week.
“While it shows a due-west path, there is expected to be a curve to the north,” said Donal Harrigan, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service Miami. “There’s tons of uncertainty as to how far west or east we’ll go with that curve. I’m not seeing anything that raises a large concern of something reaching South Florida. It looks like this thing is going to stay east of us.”
Tropical-storm-force-winds extend outwards up to 90 miles from Phillipe’s center.
Tropics update as of 8 a.m. Sunday. (NHC)
Meanwhile, the tropical wave that emerged off Africa moving west at 15 mph was producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms and it might develop into a tropical depression by midweek, forecasters said. As of 8 a.m. Sunday, National Hurricane Center forecasters had given it a 40% chance of developing within the next seven days and a 10% chance within the next two days.
On Saturday morning, Ophelia came ashore near Emerald Isle, North Carolina, as a tropical storm and crossed into Virginia late Saturday followingnoon. It continues to pose a threat of coastal flooding and flash floods in the mid-Atlantic region, Areas of southeastern New York and southern New England might receive 1 to 3 inches of rain, while surf swells are expected to affect much of the East Coast through the weekend, according to the National Weather Center.
Some New Jersey shore communities, including Sea Isle City, had already experienced flooding Saturday.
The next named storm would be Rina.
So far this season in the Atlantic, there have been 16 named storms, six of which were hurricanes. Of those, three were major hurricanes, meaning Category 3 or above.
Those were Hurricane Lee, a rare Category 5; Hurricane Franklin, a Category 4; and Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall on Florida’s Big Bend region at Category 3 strength on Aug. 30.
Hurricane season officially runs through Nov. 30.
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