Hurricane Joaquin grew into a category 3 storm late Wednesday as it approached the central islands of the Bahamas on a projected track that would take it near the U.S. East Coast by the weekend.
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Joaquin is now centered about 215 miles east-northeast of the Central Bahamas, moving toward the southwest near 6 mph (9 km/h).
It is expected to turn tow at the west-northwest on Thursday night and then north on Friday and increase its forward speed, the hurricane center said.
The National Weather Service says the storm could make landfall between North Carolina and southern New Jersey on Sunday and continue north. But forecasters said it is possible the storm, which has strengthened to a Category 3, would head out to sea.
Latest predictions show Joaquin stay off the east coast of the U.S.as it moves north, passing close to Virginia, New Jersey and New York, among other coastal states, by early Tuesday morning.
The strongest Atlantic hurricane of 2015 began to batter the Bahamas on Thursday morning as many in the United States waited to see when, and if, the storm would affect them.
The government of the Bahamas has issued a Tropical Storm Warning for the Turks and Caicos Islands. A watch is in effect for the remaining islands as well as the Turks and Caicos and Andros Island.
The pattern has the potential to drop six or more inches of rain in the region near and south of the city, with a few locations south of the city getting a foot of rain over the one-week period, Sosnowski said in a city-specific feature for AccuWeather.com.
We expect additional strengthening during today and tonight and it could easily become a Category 4 storm.
The eye of the storm is expected to pass over eastern islands of the Bahamas overnight.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami says a hurricane warning is in effect for the central and northwestern Bahamas. “There’s no question”, said Eric Blake, a hurricane specialist with the center.
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Come Saturday, the storm is expected to bring heavy and torrential rains all along the coast from Charleston to Washington, DC.
