Powerful Hurricane Joaquin bore down Thursday on the lightly populated islands of the central and eastern Bahamas and forecasters said it could grow more intense while following a path that would near the U.S. East Coast by the weekend.
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The hurricane is expected to pass near the islands of San Salvador, Cat Island, Eleuthera and Rum Cay late Thursday and early Friday. The newest official National Hurricane Center Track is following the forecast of the GFS model, which now keep Joaquin off of the Virginia coast and up toward Long Island, NY.
Joaquin could, however, further worsen weather conditions in the Mid-Atlantic, where a separate storm system is expected to bring flooding and around 18 inches of rain to a few areas already.
Forecasters are still unsure what impact Hurricane Joaquin will have on the midstate, but cool temperatures and rain showers are expected for the area until then. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 35 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 140 miles front the center.
We expect additional strengthening during today and tonight and it could easily become a Category 4 storm.
“Joaquin will move northward much of this weekend, roughly paralleling the East Coast”.
The 5-day forecast map, which indicates the probable future movement of the storm, is basically unchanged from yesterday’s bulletin.
The National Hurricane Center, however, now has a model that shows the hurricane veering to the east. All these models have been subject to change by the hour.
Chris Strong tells WTOP that it’s not clear yet how close Hurricane Joaquin will come, but the weather service should know a lot more before Thursday is over.
There is a 60 percent chance of rain on Thursday with a high near 62.
” ‘There’s still a distinct possibility that his could make landfall somewhere in the USA,’ said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and hurricane center spokesman was quoted by the AP as saying”.
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The storm is on a projected track to move near or over parts of the central Bahamas on Wednesday night and Thursday. Rains from Marty could lead to flash floods in Mexico, the hurricane center said.
