The latest storm news from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) on August 15 said that Hurricane Ernesto - storm number 5 in the Atlantic Ocean in the 2024 hurricane season - is moving into the Atlantic Ocean and away from Puerto Rico. Hurricane Ernesto is currently located approximately 289 km east of Grand Turk Island.
Ernesto, currently a category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale (winds of 119-153 km/h), will begin to turn north in the next day or two and eventually become a super typhoon.
Forecasts say the storm will become a category 3 storm with winds of 185 km/h south of Bermuda tomorrow (August 16).
According to this forecast, the center of storm Ernesto is expected to pass near Bermuda with winds of over 161 km/h.
Storm No. 5 is expected to cause heavy rain expected from 80-150 mm, locally up to 230 mm. These rains can cause life-threatening flash floods.
A hurricane warning has been issued for Bermuda. This means tropical storm winds are possible in the next 48 hours. After that, storm No. 5 moved toward the Maritimes in Canada, weakening as it passed through colder ocean waters.
Ernesto formed in the Atlantic on August 12 before impacting Caribbean islands such as St. Croix and Puerto Rico with tropical storm status.
The significantly deep trench off the East Coast has long been expected to act as a barrier, preventing the storm from directly hitting the US, but not far enough to prevent indirect impacts to the coast.
Big waves appeared as early as August 15 in Florida, but are likely to last through the weekend and early next week. The threat is considered great enough that the National Hurricane Center warns of the dangers in its advisories.
"Storm-generated waves are expected to hit the Florida coast this weekend and continue through the weekend. Beachgoers should be aware of the significant risk of large surf and threatening rip currents." life-threatening" - NHC forecasters declared.
Rip currents form when water accumulates and forms a narrow, fast-flowing channel that quickly sweeps swimmers away from shore, often catching them off guard.
Currents can move at speeds of up to 2.4 m/s (86.4 km/h), faster than most people can swim.
Tropical storms such as Hurricane Beryl and Hurricane Debby earlier in the season caused increased rip currents along some parts of the US coast, but there were no deaths.
According to data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as of August 4, at least 30 people have died due to strong currents or large waves across the United States.
Most of the deaths occurred in Florida, but beaches in Puerto Rico and the Carolinas also had many cases.
