Tropical Storm Erin became the first hurricane of the Atlantic season on Friday, threatening heavy rain and storm surge in the Northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center(NHC) reported.
The system is about 460 miles (740 kilometers) east of the Northern Leeward Islands, with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 kilometers per hour) and is moving west-northwest at 18 miles per hour (30 kilometers per hour).
The NHC warns that Erin’s outer bands will bring heavy rains of 50 to 100 millimeters (2 to 4 inches) and isolated maxima of 150 millimeters (6 inches) tonight through Sunday to the Northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, with flash flooding and landslide risk.
Dangerous swells and rip currents are also expected throughout the region beginning over the weekend.
Authorities are also maintaining a tropical storm watch for Anguilla and Barbuda, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, Saba and St. Eustatius, as well as Sint Maarten.
This means that tropical storm conditions are possible in those areas within 48 hours as the cyclone approaches on Saturday, passing near or north of the Northern Leeward Islands.
Rapid strengthening
According to the NHC, Hurricane Erin maintains a west-northwestward track that will continue through the weekend, passing near or north of the Northern Leeward Islands.
NOAA and Air Force hurricane hunter aircraft reported that the cyclone is already reaching hurricane force winds of up to 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour) and could intensify rapidly over the next two to three days, becoming a major hurricane over the weekend.
Hurricane-force winds extend up to 35 kilometers (25 miles) from the center, while tropical storm-force winds reach 185 kilometers (115 miles), mainly to the north.
Erin arose after the formation in the Atlantic of storms Andrea, Barry, Chantal and Dexter.
Chantal was the first to make landfall this year in the United States, where she left at least two dead in North Carolina in July.
The U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Friday that it expects increased tropical storm activity in the Atlantic during the second half of the cyclone season, forecasting between two and five “major” hurricanes between August and November.
NOAA maintained its forecast of an “above-normal” hurricane season, estimating between 13 and 18 tropical storms, of which between five and nine could become hurricanes, according to EFE.
For more information, visit QuéOnnda.com.
