Hurricane Ernesto To Ramp Up Rip Currents

Play

Hurricane Ernesto is headed for the closest strike on Bermuda in almost four years, then could brush parts of Atlantic Canada early next week after its flooding rain and damaging winds hammered Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles.

Ernesto will remain well off the U.S. East Coast, but beachgoers will need to be aware of its swells generating a threat of dangerous rip currents.

C​urrent status: Category 1 Hurricane Ernesto is centered over 600 miles south-southwest of Bermuda and is moving north. Its bands of heavy rain have now moved away from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Warnings and watches: A hurricane warning was issued early Thursday morning for Bermuda. This means hurricane-force winds are expected in Bermuda and is typically first issued 36 hours before tropical storm force winds arrive.

Bermuda timeline, impacts: Well ahead of Ernesto, locally heavy rain is possible in Bermuda Thursday.

T​ropical storm force winds could arrive in Bermuda as soon as Friday afternoon. Given that, all preparations should be completed before these deteriorating conditions arrive.

E​rnesto's center is forecast to pass close enough to Bermuda to bring hurricane conditions Saturday. Ernesto will also temporarily slow its forward speed as it approaches Bermuda, meaning its impacts are likely to last through Saturday night, possibly into Sunday morning before it leaves.

Damaging winds, flooding rain, storm surge and battering waves can be expected in the archipelago. Up to 12 inches of rain is possible through early Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

T​his will be the strongest hurricane strike Bermuda has experienced in almost four years, since Paulette did so in Sept. 2020.

A​tlantic Canada concern: After leaving Bermuda, Ernesto will curl northeast and move faster.

W​hile there's typical uncertainty in its exact track this far out, it could track close enough to either eastern Nova Scotia and/or Newfoundland later Monday into early Tuesday to bring at least some winds, rain and certainly waves along the coast, as it gradually transitions from a hurricane to a "post-tropical cyclone", the type of low-pressure system you typically see attached to cold and warm fronts.

Ernesto's swells will be a threat to beachgoers on the East Coast: Ernesto is likely to generate large swells that would affect the East Coast through this weekend. That's likely to produce dangerous rip currents from Florida to the Northeast.

S​ee the link below for more details on this rip current danger.

(MORE: Ernesto Likely To Cause Rip Currents Along East Coast)

S​torm Recap

T​he National Hurricane Center began issuing advisories on Potential Tropical Cyclone Five late Sunday afternoon as a tropical wave was nearing parts of the Lesser Antilles enough to prompt tropical storm watches.

T​wenty four hours later, it became Tropical Storm Ernesto, the fifth storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season as it was still just under 300 miles east of the Leeward Islands.

B​y Tuesday morning, its center moved over Guadeloupe with flooding rain and locally damaging winds in Sint Maarten.

L​ater Tuesday into Wednesday, Ernesto battered the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with wind gusts up to 81 mph (on Isla Culebrita, Puerto Rico) and up to 11.28 inches of rain (at a reporting station near Barran, Puerto Rico).

Flooding and landslides were reported in several locations. High winds took the roof off one Puerto Rico home.

Hundreds of thousands of customers in Puerto Rico, and at least 90% of Virgin Islands customers had lost power at one time Wednesday.

Ernesto was upgraded to the third hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season late Wednesday morning. That's about 3.5 weeks ahead of the average pace, according to the National Hurricane Center.