DANGEROUS CATEGORY 4, GONZALO THREATENS BERMUDA FRIDAY.... Dangerous Category Four hurricane Gonzalo will pass dangerously close to Bermuda on Friday. Not only will it whip up damaging winds, it will also drive a life-threatening storm surge inland across the island. . As of 5 p.m. EDT, Hurricane Gonzalo was located near 27.1 N and 68.2 W, or 415 miles south-southwest of Bermuda. This also places the storm about 720 miles east-northeast of Miami. Gonzalo is packing top sustained winds of 145 mph, making it a Category Four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Gonzalo is churning north at 9 mph, and its minimum central pressure has climbed to 942 mb, or 27.82 inches of mercury. . A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Bermuda. A warning means that hurricane force winds, those greater than 74 mph, will be experienced in the warned area. . Ganzalo will continue to be squeezed north and northeastward between a potent low pressure system along the East Coast and high pressure extending into the northern and central Atlantic Ocean. That will take Gonzalo very close to Bermuda on Friday afternoon and evening. Unfortunately, Gonzalos is likely to be a Category Three hurricane as it passes nearby on Friday packing top sustained of 120 to 130 mph with higher gusts as well. , On Bermuda, conditions will worsen throughout the day, with tropical storm force winds of 39 to 74 mph developing on Friday morning and then increasing to hurricane strength by early afternoon. Rainfall of 3 to 6 inches is expected on the island, with a storm surge that could produce waves of 20 to 30 feet. . After Bermuda, Gonzalo will merge with a cold front in the western Atlantic and accelerate northeastward while losing its tropical characteristics this weekend. However, the post-tropical storm will pass very close to eastern Newfoundland, close enough to bring some rain and wind to the St. John`s area. . In addition, it will pack large surf, battering waves and life-threatening rip currents from the northern coasts of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic to Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast. . Gonzalo follows behind Edouard as the season`s second major hurricane. Edouard developed off the west coast of Africa and became a Category Three storm in the Central Atlantic. It then veered north and northeast, having no direct impact with any land mass. Still, it produced large swells and dangerous rip currents for much of the East Coast. . Given only seven named storms have occurred so far, the hurricane season is on pace to see the least number of storms since 1994, countering the recent trend of 12-18 storms on an annual basis. While we are well past the mid-September peak of the hurricane season, there is still plenty of time for memorable storms to occur. For example, Hurricane Sandy made landfall on October 29, 2012. .
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 21:51:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015