Thread: Heads Up = Earl is chasing Danielle

DANIELLE NOW A CATEGORY 2 HURRICANE...

11:00 PM AST Wed Aug 25
Location: 22.4°N 54.1°W
Max sustained: 100 mph
Moving: NW at 17 mph
Min pressure: 975 mb

EARL MOVING WESTWARD OVER THE TROPICAL ATLANTIC...

11:00 PM AST Wed Aug 25
Location: 14.7°N 33.6°W
Max sustained: 40 mph
Moving: W at 16 mph
Min pressure: 1006 mb

Earl threatens hurricane status as Danielle weakens
Sat Aug 28, 4:44 pm ET

MIAMI (AFP) – Tropical Storm Earl barreled towards the eastern fringe of the Caribbean Saturday, threatening to gain hurricane status, as Hurricane Danielle weakened far from land in the Atlantic.

At 1800 GMT, Earl was a little weaker, packing sustained winds of 55 miles (90 kilometers) per hour, with higher gusts, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said, warning Earl could become a hurricane as early as Sunday afternoon.

The eye of the storm was located about 660 miles (1,060 km) east of the Northern Leeward Islands -- which it was expected to approach on Sunday -- heading west at 23 miles (37 km) per hour.

A tropical storm watch was already in effect for several eastern Caribbean islands including Saint Martin, Antigua, Barbuda and Montserrat.

Earl was forecast to make a turn to the west-northwest and decrease somewhat in forward speed over the next couple of days, the NHC said.

Meanwhile, east of Bermuda, Hurricane Danielle weakened to a Category Two storm and headed north-northeast, far from land, forecasters said. It was expected to pass well east of Bermuda later Saturday.

The weather system was still producing sustained winds of 110 miles (175 kilometers) per hour, the NHC said, adding that "little change in strength is forecast during the next 12 to 24 hours, and gradual weakening is expected to commence on Sunday."

Danielle was a Category Four storm on Friday, but its passage has tracked far away from land. Still, the NHC warned that tropical storm-force winds could hit Bermuda later Saturday, with ripple effects on the US east coast.

"Large waves and dangerous surf conditions will affect Bermuda over the next few days," the Center added.

"Swells from Danielle will begin to arrive on the east coast of the United States later today. These swells are likely to cause dangerous rip currents through the weekend."

Forecasters were also closely watching a low pressure system "associated with a vigorous tropical wave" that was located about 350 miles (560 km) west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde islands and could likely form a tropical depression later Saturday or Sunday. Forecasters said there was an 80 percent chance the system would form a tropical cyclone by Monday afternoon...

US evacuations may be required for Earl
35 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – Federal officials say evacuations may be required in the U.S. if Hurricane Earl tracks too close to the East Coast. Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate said Tuesday that people along the eastern seaboard should be prepared in case evacuations are necessary later this week.

Officials will be closely monitoring the movement of the Category 4 storm to determine which parts of the coast will face the greatest impact. It's too early to tell right now what those might be. Earl is forecast to potentially brush North Carolina late Thursday before running parallel to land up the East Coast on Friday and Saturday.

FEMA already has teams deployed in the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and North Carolina. It has advance teams prepared to work with other states up the coast.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Earl delivered a glancing blow to several small Caribbean islands on Monday, tearing roofs off homes and cutting electricity to people in Anguilla, Antigua, and St. Maarten. Cruise ships were diverted and flights canceled across the region. But there were no reports of death or injury.

In Providenciales, Benson Capron was among several fishermen tying their boats to trees lining a beach.
"I hear it is going to pass, but I will not take any chances," Capron said. "Today I will not go out to fish."

The Hurricane Center said it was too early to say what effect Earl would have in the U.S., but warned it could at least kick up dangerous rip currents. A surfer died in Florida and a Maryland swimmer had been missing since Saturday in waves spawned by former Hurricane Danielle, which weakened to a tropical storm Monday far out in the north Atlantic.

Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Earl's approach ought to serve as a reminder for Atlantic coastal states to update their evacuation plans. "It wouldn't take much to have the storm come ashore somewhere on the coast," Fugate said. "The message is for everyone to pay attention."

The storm's center passed just north of the British Virgin Islands on Monday afternoon. Despite a few lost fishing boats and several uprooted trees in Tortola and Anegada, there were no reports of major damage or injuries, said Sharleen DaBreo, disaster management agency director.

Early Tuesday, Earl's center was about 230 miles (370 kilometers) east of Grand Turk island as it headed west-northwest at 13 mph (30 kph), according to the hurricane center. Hurricane strength winds extended up to 70 miles (110 kilometers) from the center, it said.

Tropical storm conditions were expected to spread into the Turks and Caicos by Tuesday afternoon, with a potential for above normal tides and dangerous tides. The territory was under a tropical warning and a tropical storm watch was in effect for the southeastern Bahamas.

Close on Earl's heels, Tropical Storm Fiona formed Monday afternoon in the open Atlantic. The storm, with maximum winds of 40 mph (65 kph), was projected to pass just north of the Leeward Islands by Wednesday and stay farther out in the Atlantic than Earl's northward path. Fiona wasn't expected to reach hurricane strength over the next several days.

The rapid development of Earl, which only became a hurricane Sunday, took some islanders and tourists by surprise.

In Anguilla, several utility poles were down and a couple of roofs had blown away, but it was still too dangerous to go out and assess the full extent of damage, said Martin Gussie, a police officer.

At El Conquistador Resort in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, people lined up at the reception desk, the lights occasionally flickering, to check out and head to the airport. There, more delays awaited.

John and Linda Helton of Boulder, Colo., opted to ride out the storm. The couple, celebrating their 41st wedding anniversary, finished a cruise Sunday and planned to spend three days in Puerto Rico. "There was a huge line of people checking out as we were coming in, and I thought it was just that summer vacation must be over," said John Helton, a real estate appraiser. "But we paid for the room, so we might as well stick it out."

"I don't think we could get a flight even if we wanted to leave," Linda Helton added.

In St. Maarten, sand and debris littered the streets, and winds knocked down trees and electricity poles and damaged roofs. But police spokesman Ricardo Henson said there was no extensive damage to property.

In Antigua, at least one home was destroyed but there were no reports of serious injuries. Governor General Dame Louise Agnetha Lake-Tack declared Monday a public holiday to keep islanders off the road and give them a chance to clean up.

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos (AP) — Islanders wary of a possible blow from powerful Hurricane Earl pulled boats ashore and packed supermarkets on the Turks and Caicos on Tuesday as the Category 4 storm howled over open seas toward the eastern United States.

The hurricane, with winds of 135 mph (215 kilometers), was expected to remain over the open ocean east of this British territory before turning north and running parallel to the U.S. coast, potentially reaching the North Carolina coastal region by Friday. It was projected then to curve back out to sea, perhaps swiping New England or far-eastern Canada.

"There is still considerable uncertainty as to how close the hurricane will come to the U.S. East Coast," the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said in a bulletin Tuesday.




http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100831/...opical_weather

I think I'm staying in later this week We were supposed to take a drive down to the Cape at the end of the week for a couple of days.

Be careful ... this looks to be a monster. Please don't take this the wrong way .... but I have been praying it would go "thataway". Hopefully : Earl and Fiona will follow Danielle and just wander off into the Atlantic....

Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

Be careful ... this looks to be a monster. Please don't take this the wrong way .... but I have been praying it would go "thataway". Hopefully : Earl and Fiona will follow Danielle and just wander off into the Atlantic....

Not taken in the wrong way at all. I'm hoping it goes even more thataway, lol.

Island evacuations start as Earl nears East Coast
Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 4 mins ago

NAGS HEAD, N.C. – Hurricane Earl steamed toward the Eastern Seaboard on Wednesday as communities from North Carolina to New England kept a close eye on the forecast, worried that even a slight shift in the storm's predicted offshore track could put millions of people in the most densely populated part of the country in harm's way.

Vacationers along North Carolina's dangerously exposed Outer Banks took advantage of the typical picture-perfect day just before a hurricane arrives to pack their cars and flee inland, cutting short their summer just before Labor Day weekend.

The governors of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland declared states of emergency, sea turtle nests on one beach were scooped up and moved to safety, and the crew of the Navy's USS Cole rushed to get home to Norfolk, Va., on Wednesday ahead of the bad weather. The destroyer was supposed to return later this week from a seven-month assignment fighting piracy off Somalia.

Farther up the East Coast, emergency officials urged people to have disaster plans and supplies ready and weighed whether to order evacuations as they watched the latest maps from the National Hurricane Center — namely, the "cone of uncertainty" showing the broad path the storm could take.

Earl was expected to reach the North Carolina coast late Thursday and wheel to the northeast, staying offshore while making its way up the Eastern Seaboard. But forecasters said it could move in closer, perhaps coming ashore in North Carolina, crossing New York's Long Island and passing over the Boston metropolitan area and Cape Cod.

That could make the difference between modestly wet and blustery weather on the one hand, and dangerous storm surge, heavy rain and hurricane-force winds on the other. "Everyone is poised and ready to pull the trigger if Earl turns west, but our hope is that this thing goes out to sea and we're all golfing this weekend," said Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Earl was a powerful Category 4 hurricane centered more than 680 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., with winds of 135 mph.

The only mandatory evacuations were for 30,000 residents and visitors ordered to leave Hatteras Island on the Outer Banks. Dare County spokeswoman Dorothy Toolan said there was no official notification of the evacuation order, and many residents didn't appear worried.

Nancy Scarborough, who manages the Hatteras Cabanas, said locals are ready to help each other and ride out a hurricane, even if they are cut off from the mainland for days. "I worry about not being able to get back here'" she said. "I'd rather be stuck on this side than that side."

About 5,000 tourists were ordered to leave Ocracoke Island to the south, and officials in Carteret County were evacuating low-lying areas, but didn't know how many people would be affected.

The North Carolina National Guard also is deploying 80 troops to help and Gov. Beverly Perdue sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting a federal emergency declaration before landfall in anticipation of damages.

Just a light breeze was stirring and there wasn't a cloud in the sky along the Outer Banks — a ribbon of barrier islands a dozen miles or more off the mainland, connected to the rest of the world by a couple of bridges and a ferry. Along the lone highway, hundreds of cars backed up at one of the bridges.

Brittany Grippaldi and her family took advantage of the good weather to pack up their Ford Explorer in Hatteras and head home to New Jersey. "It's sad because reality hasn't really set in because it is so beautiful out. It's like, `Oh, I don't want to leave this,' but it's like the calm before the storm," said Grippaldi, who hoped to beat the traffic.

Chuck Costas also wasn't taking any chances, interrupting his two-week vacation to move inland from the cottage he rented on Nags Head on the Outer Banks. Large waves already crashing ashore uncomfortably close to the home. "It is what it is," he said. "We have no control over it. If we lose a couple days, it's not a huge loss."

Hurricane warnings were posted for most of the North Carolina coast, with a hurricane watch extending to Delaware and part of Massachusetts.

In Virginia, Gov. Bob McDonnell activated the National Guard and sent 200 troops to the Hampton Roads area on Chesapeake Bay. The area was not expected to get the brunt of Earl, but many remember the surprise fury of Hurricane Isabel, which killed 33 people and caused $1.6 billion in damage in September 2003. "I'd rather be safe and get our troops and state police in place by Thursday night," the governor said.

Red Cross officials in New York prepared to open as many as 50 shelters on Long Island that could house up to 60,000 people in an emergency. No evacuations were issued, but officials were going to re-examine the situation Thursday morning.

Emergency officials on Cape Cod braced for their first major storm since Hurricane Bob brought winds of up to 100 mph to coastal New England in August 1991. Marinas encouraged people to take their boats out of the water now instead of waiting for Labor Day.

Also on Wednesday, the seventh tropical storm of the season formed far out in the Atlantic. Tropical Storm Gaston had sustained winds of 40 mph and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane this weekend as it moves toward the Leeward Islands.

Tropical Storm Fiona remained north of the Caribbean with winds of 60 mph and is expected to move toward Bermuda over the next several days.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100902/...xhbmRldmFjdWE-