Hurricane Dorian strengthens, keeps aim at Florida

Published: Updated:
Tropical tracker. (Credit: The Weather Authority)
Tropical tracker. (Credit: The Weather Authority)

THE LATEST

Hurricane Dorian is expected to continue to gain strength as it passes Puerto Rico. However, most of Southwest Florida is still within Dorian’s forecast cone as of now. The WINK News Weather Authority team is working hard to monitor and forecast this storm as it approached the east coast.

Right now, Dorian is expected to make landfall on Monday as a Category 3 hurricane. Dorian’s eye has reformed as it’s now in the clear over warm water as it continues it’s trek.

NEED TO KNOW

As of 11 p.m. Wednesday, Hurricane Dorian is gradually moving away from the northeastern Caribbean sea with maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour. The center is currently about 45 miles north west of St. Thomas. The current location is at 19.7°N 66.0°W, and the storm is moving north northeast at 13 miles per hour with minimum pressure of 986 mb.

A Hurricane Warning has been discontinued for Vieques and Culebra, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The government of Antigua has also discontinued its Hurricane Warning for the British Virgin Islands. That warning would mean hurricane conditions are expected within 6-12 hours. A Hurricane Watch and Tropical Storm Warning are no longer in effect for Puerto Rico, which would have meant that hurricane conditions are possible within 6-12 hours or tropical storm conditions are expected within 6-12 hours.

Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for Florida counties in the path of Dorian and is urging all Floridians on the east coast to prepare for impacts.

In other tropical news, Erin has been downgraded to a tropical depression after forming along the east coast of the United States yesterday. The storm is now roughly 305 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour and is expected to continue moving away from Southwest Florida. Erin is projected to make landfall in Nova Scotia. It’s the fifth named storm of the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

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