Tropical Storm Ernesto Expected To Become Hurricane

August 12, 2024 News, Weather

The Weather Channel reports:

T​ropical Storm Ernesto has formed and will spread heavy rain, winds and some coastal flooding across the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico through Wednesday, before it turns north and intensifies into a hurricane.

Ernesto became the fifth storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season late Monday afternoon after a Hurricane Hunter mission found a small, closed area of surface low pressure east of the Lesser Antilles. Ernesto is centered east of the Lesser Antilles in the central Atlantic Ocean, moving quickly westward.

W​atches, warnings in effect: Tropical storm warnings stretch across the Leeward Islands from Guadeloupe into the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. That means tropical storm conditions (sustained winds 39 mph to 73 mph) are expected in the next 36 hours.

The Associated Press reports:

Puerto Rico activated the National Guard on Monday and canceled the start of classes in public schools as forecasters warned the U.S. territory would be hit by Tropical Storm Ernesto.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, St. Martin, St. Barts and St. Maarten.

Officials in the French Caribbean said the disturbance is expected to drench Guadeloupe on Monday and pass near St. Barts and St. Martin. The National Hurricane Center said the disturbance is forecast to approach Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands on Tuesday evening.

The Washington Post reports:

The Hurricane Center predicted the system would reach tropical storm strength, which requires winds of at least 39 mph, near or over the Lesser Antilles late Monday or early Tuesday, and hurricane strength (winds of at least 74 mph) north of Puerto Rico on Thursday.

Continued strengthening is forecast as it tracks northward over the open waters of the Atlantic, with winds around 110 mph by Saturday, which would be a high-end Category 2 or low-end Category 3 storm. A Category 3 storm is considered a “major” hurricane.

For now, forecasters say they expect Ernesto to turn northeast into the open Atlantic after it clears the Caribbean.



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