JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Hurricane Dorian seems like the storm that just won’t go away. After making landfall in the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, and North Carolina, it now has eastern Canada in its sights.
Dorian made its first landfall on the U.S. mainland just after 8:30 a.m. Friday in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. But, even before landfall, hurricane force winds were lashing the coast for several hours.
Radar estimated that Dorian dropped more than six inches of rain over parts of North and South Carolina, and some isolated areas near Wilmington, N.C. may have received more than 12 inches, causing widespread flooding.
As of Friday afternoon, Dorian is a Category 1 hurricane, with sustained winds of 90 mph. The storm is beginning to accelerate, moving to the northeast at 21 mph.
Hurricane Dorian is expected to continue to the northeast, tracking offshore of New England. High surf and gusty winds are likely up and down the Mid Atlantic to New England through the weekend.
Hurricane warnings remain in effect across eastern North Carolina, but will be retired as Dorian moves away. Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for southern Chesapeake Bay, the DelMarVa peninsula, southeastern New England, and Downeast Maine.
Hurricane Dorian isn’t done yet, though! The Canadian Hurricane Center (who knew there was such a thing?) has posted Hurricane Warnings for central and eastern Nova Scotia, and Tropical Storm Warnings for southwest Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Hurricane and Tropical Storm watches are also in effect for parts of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Hurricane Dorian may transform into an ‘extratropical’ storm by the time it gets to Canada, but the storm could still bring hurricane-force winds and storm surge to the Canadian maritimes either way.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Basin, Gabrielle came back from the (tropical) dead Friday. After being downgraded to an extratropical storm, a sudden re-intensification caused to storm to regain its Tropical Storm moniker this morning.
Tropical Storm Gabrielle as of Friday afternoon is a disorganized storm with sustained winds of 45 mph. But more favorable conditions lay ahead of the storm and its expected to strengthen back into a formidable hurricane by early next week.
Gabrielle does not pose any direct threat to North America, but is likely to be a maritime shipping hazard through the middle of next week.
Strangely, the only land that may be affected by Gabrielle is western Europe. Hurricanes and tropical storms are very rare in Europe, but not impossible. Hurricane Vince made landfall in Spain as a tropical depression on Oct. 11, 2005. Most other tropical systems become extratropical before affecting Europe, but can still bring heavy rain and strong winds.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Basin, two other areas are getting the attention of tropical forecasters.
A tropical wave being called “Disturbance #1” is located near the Cape Verde Islands, and has about a 70 percent chance of development into a tropical system in the next five days.
Another wave, called “Disturbance #2” is northeast of the Lesser Antilles of the Carribbean. This disturbance is not in a favorable area for development, and only has a 10 percent chance of developing in the next five days.
StormTeam12 will continue to monitor the tropics as any of these systems develop.
With an active tropics, and most of the Atlantic tropical storm season still ahead of us, it is a good idea to review your hurricane preparedness.
Stay tuned and check back often with Storm Team 12 for frequent updates on the tropics.
