“Heavy rain is a near certainty Friday and Saturday with 4-6″ possible and flash flooding likely as deep tropical moisture gets caught up in a stationary front along the coast before Joaquin works its way up the coast.
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that Joaquin was centered 400 miles (645 kms) northeast of the central Bahamas late Monday.
The storm will likely remain a hurricane as it dances around the Bahamas through the rest of the week.
Town officials met Wednesday afternoon to plan in case Hurricane Joaquin, moving up the East Coast, affects town.
Joaquin is expected to strengthen during the next 48 hours.
Forecasters are predicting a few slight strengthening today, but say Joaquin could fluctuate in intensity on Friday. After that, however, “It gets very wet around here on into Friday”, he said.
Joaquin was a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph) and hurricane strength winds extending 35 miles (55 kilometers) from the eye early Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Authorities in the Bahamas fear storm surges, coastal flooding and up to 10 to 15 inches of rain, said Geoffrey Greene, a senior forecaster with the Bahamas Meteorology Department.
A hurricane warning is in effect for the Central Bahamas, including Cat Island, the Exumas, Long Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador; and the Northwestern Bahamas, including the Abacos, Berry Islands, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama Island and New Providence. This, along with other contributing factors, will result in significant rain in North Carolina.
“Joaquin could become the strongest and probably most devastating storm in the Atlantic for this season, so far”, Duncan continued. And though not all forecast models agreed on whether it would make landfall in the United States, warnings were issued as northeastern America faced a hammering rainstorm that flooded the streets and messed up travel from Washington to Boston, Reuters reported.
Though the storm could still turn east and out to sea, recent conditions indicate “an increased threat to the mid-Atlantic states and the Carolinas”, the center said.
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In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said: “Our state has seen the damage that extreme weather can cause time and time again – and I am urging New Yorkers to take precautions for more heavy storms in the coming days”.
