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Strengthening Hurricane Dorian is growing threat to Florida

As it barreled through the U.S. Virgin Islands and scraped eastern Puerto Rico, Dorian intensified from a tropical storm to a hurricane on Wednesday. Pulling away from Puerto Rico, the storm continued strengthening, with maximum sustained winds near 85 mph and higher gusts as of 5 a.m. Thursday. And even more strengthening is predicted. By the weekend, Dorian is now forecast to approach the Florida coast as a major Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds and dump 4 to 8 inches of rain, with isolated areas receiving up to 12 inches.

“All indications are that by this Labor Day weekend, a powerful hurricane will be near or over the Florida peninsula,” the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Wednesday afternoon “to ensure local governments and emergency management agencies have ample time, resources and flexibility to get prepared,” he posted to Twitter.

Based on the latest model forecasts, landfall along Florida’s east coast seems most likely, timed between Sunday evening and Monday morning. That said, shifts in Dorian’s projected track are inevitable considering the storm is still over four days away from land.

While the east coast of Florida is the most likely landfall target, additional possible scenarios include tracks farther north toward southern Georgia or even south over the Florida Keys. There is a decreasing chance the storm will recurve out to sea and miss the Lower 48. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Gulf Coast should also monitor the storm, as there is a scenario in which it crosses the Florida peninsula, enters the Gulf and then makes a second landfall. Because Dorian did not interact with the high terrain of the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico, it is now forecast to steadily strengthen. There is little holding Dorian back, and computer models show it has the potential to rapidly intensify to a major hurricane – Category 3 or greater.

 

Hurricane Dorian

“Dorian’s unanticipated northward jog changes a few things, all for the worse,” wrote Brian McNoldy, the Capital Weather Gang’s tropical weather expert. “It significantly increases the odds of a hurricane landfall in the southeast U.S. later this weekend. Models also show an expanding storm with an increasingly large wind field as it approaches the mainland United States over the weekend. Some modeling indicates a significantly elevated likelihood of rapid intensification, in which the storm’s peak winds could increase substantially in a short time interval (at least 35 mph in 24 hours).

The potential for rapid strengthening is particularly concerning, considering that high tides along the East Coast will be running unusually high as “King Tides” could cause coastal flooding in the absence of any storm, and could exacerbate storm surge effects from Dorian. Much of Puerto Rico escaped the brunt of Dorian as the storm passed slightly to the east, directly over St. Croix and St. Thomas. Bob Henson at Weather Underground summarized some of the observed effects on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands:

“Winds on the south shore of Saint Thomas peaked at a sustained 72 mph between 1:17 and 1:27 pm EDT Wednesday, with gusts as high as 97 mph. Saint Thomas was in the developing northern eyewall of Dorian at the time.

“On the weaker south side of Dorian’s circulation, Christiansted on Saint Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands had peak sustained winds of 34 mph, gusting to 44 mph, at 11 am EDT Wednesday. Puerto Rico escaped seeing tropical storm-force winds from Dorian; Puerto Rico’s highest winds were 27 mph, gusting to 45 mph, on Culebra Island, off the northeast coast of mainland Puerto Rico. …

“The greatest rainfall from Dorian recorded on a WU Personal Weather Station was at ISTTHOMA12 on St. Thomas, which had 5.66 inches as of 6:30 pm EDT. The highest rainfall amount in Puerto Rico was 1.36 inches at Fajardo.”

Residents in Florida, especially in coastal areas along its east coast, should begin preparing for this storm. Have a plan of action and a hurricane kit ready, and stay tuned for updates as this forecast comes further into focus.

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Source: IOL