XPost: fl.general, sac.politics, alt.politics.immigration
XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
Too bad it won't hit Alligator Alcatraz.
Hurricane Erin, the first major hurricane of the North American
hurricane season, has intensified into a Category 5 storm, with
sustained winds of 160 miles per hour, according to the National
Weather Service.
Thankfully for the coastal U.S., forecasters do not believe the
hurricane will make landfall, though severe weather on the periphery
of the storm could cause adverse offshore conditions along the East
Coast.
Erin is expected to take a turn north after this weekend, skirting
the eastern edge of the U.S. According to the National Hurricane
Center, the storm is expected to travel north between Bermuda and
North Carolina's Outer Banks before it continues onward into the
Atlantic Ocean.
"We still expect this to eventually make a more northward turn and
stay offshore of the East Coast of the United States. So that
certainly is good news when dealing with a storm this powerful,"
AccuWeather meteorologist Dan Pydynowski told USA TODAY.
The National Hurricane Center predicts that by the middle of next
week the storm will double or triple in size. That expansion could
cause rough oceans for parts of the western Atlantic.
The Caribbean will be the first to feel the storm's power; heavy
rainfall is predicted in the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin
Islands, and Puerto Rico this weekend. Two to four inches of rain
are expected and flash flooding is possible in some areas,
according to the NHC.
In the continental U.S., Erin is expected to generate dangerous
surf conditions along essentially the entire East Coast. High waves
and dangerously strong rip currents are likely.
Anyone visiting the beach on Florida's east coast between August 18
and 21 should be mindful as the storm will likely create dangerous
offshore conditions during that period, according to the National
Weather Service.
Hurricane season in the Atlantic begins on June 1 and continued
through the end of November. Major hurricanes - those that reach
at least a Category 3 - tend to form in late August through
mid-October, but Erin was an outlier. It began as a cluster of
rainstorms off the western coast of Africa before it formed into
a tropical storm system and intensified into a hurricane.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/hurricane-erin- explodes-into-cat-5-storm-and-is-expected-to-double-even-triple- in-coming-days/ar-AA1KEbPx
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