Hurricane Ernesto is continuing to gain strength and is forecast to become a large, major hurricane this week that could bring a deluge of up to 12 inches of rain to parts of Bermuda.
It is the season’s third hurricane, and forecasters are predicting that the storm could strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane by Friday. Ernesto’s peak wind speeds could reach 115 mph by Friday afternoon, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Ernesto was located about 570 miles south-southwest of Bermuda as of 11 a.m. Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, moving north at 14 mph. Hurricane-force winds reach up to 60 miles from Ernesto’s center, while tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles.
A hurricane watch is in place for Bermuda, where the center of Ernesto is expected to pass on Saturday.
The National Hurricane Center on Thursday was predicting 4 to 8 inches of rain, with a maximum of 12 inches in localized areas.
AccuWeather meteorologists said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that wind gusts as high as 140 mph are forecast for Bermuda, up to 3 feet of storm surge.
“We could be dealing with a major hurricane approaching Bermuda this weekend,” said AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno in the statement. “Ernesto is forecast to track just west of Bermuda. That puts Bermuda in the right front quadrant of the hurricane, which is where we typically see the worst impacts from a storm.”
Ernesto, which became a tropical storm in the Atlantic on Monday, is expected to move at a slower speed as it continues heading north, or potentially northeast, on Friday and Saturday.
National Hurricane Center forecasters said Thursday Ernesto will generate swells that will reach the U.S. East Coast later this week and the weekend, despite being far offshore. A high risk of dangerous rip currents is expected.
“Beach goers should be aware of a significant risk of life-threatening surf and rip currents, and stay out of the water if advised by lifeguards,” the hurricane center said.
Ernesto dropped torrential rain on the eastern portion of Puerto Rico. Nearly half a million of 1.4 million customers remained in the dark more than a day after Ernesto swiped past Puerto Rico late Tuesday as a tropical storm before strengthening into a hurricane. Hundreds of thousands of people also are without water given the power outages.
Luma Energy, the company that operates transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico, said early Wednesday that its priority was to restore power to hospitals, the island’s water and sewer company and other essential services.
When pressed for an estimate of when power would be restored, Alejandro González, Luma’s operations director, declined to say.
“It would be irresponsible to provide an exact date,” he said at a news conference late Wednesday.
Puerto Rico’s power grid was razed by Hurricane Maria in September 2017 as a Category 4 storm, and it remains frail as crews continue to rebuild the system.
Not everyone can afford generators on the island of 3.2 million people with a more than 40% poverty rate.
“People already prepared themselves with candles,” said Lucía Rodríguez, a 31-year-old street vendor.
Hurricane season, which runs from June 1-Nov. 30, has entered the busiest time of the year from mid-August to October. The next named storm will be Francine.
Though July was quiet, experts at Colorado State said last week the remainder of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season should be “extremely active,” with the likelihood of 10 more hurricanes.
Colorado State’s department of atmospheric science’s final 2024 hurricane season forecast called for a “well-above-average” August through November, although it reduced its number of named storms from its July forecast, from 25 down to 23. The 1991 to 2020 average is 14.4.
The Colorado State team still expects 12 hurricanes (the 1991-2020 average was 7.2), and is forecasting that six of those will reach major hurricane strength (Category 3, 4 or 5). The 1991-2020 average is 3.2.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration echoed Colorado State’s prediction in its updated 2024 hurricane season forecast, calling for an “extremely active” remainder of the season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
