Hurricane Warnings are out for the central Bahamas and a Hurricane Watch is in effect for the northern Bahamas.
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Hurricane forecasters continued to caution that Joaquin’s long-range track forecast was full of uncertainty – and there are still many possible outcomes as the storm moves closer to the U.S.
The storm was upgraded to Category 3 with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. Stephen Russell of the Bahamas National Emergency Management Agency as saying that storm surge and minor flooding has been reported in the region, but no casualties or significant damage.
South Florida’s Thursday forecast: Mostly sunny with a high temperature of about 91 degrees, a low of 75 degrees and a 20 percent chance of rain, mainly in the afternoon. Joaquin is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Hurricane Joaquin is strengthening as it approaches the Bahamas, with an eye on the United States East Coast. The satellite imagery is showing a lot more organization with heavy rain and thunderstorms wrapping around the center.
Ahead of Joaquin, rain from other weather systems already soaked much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic on Wednesday.
In fact, most of the models point towards the Charlotte area picking three to four inches of rain through Saturday night and Sunday morning.
There is a chance of rain on Saturday with highs around 55 degrees. “Several inches of rain can be expected through Friday and beyond, which will bring concerns of flash flooding”, National Weather Service meteorologist Amanda Fanning said in an online forecast.
By Friday, ocean swells generated by Joaquin will begin to affect portions of Florida’s east coast and the Southeast coast, potentially causing life-threatening surf and rip currents.
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The hurricane center’s latest track map shows Joaquin turning north starting Friday and heading in the general direction of the Carolinas, then takes a weaker storm northward toward New Jersey.
