A hurricane watch has been issued for a portion of the North Carolina coast as Hurricane Earl continues to move toward the East Coast of the United States.
The watch area stretches from just north of Wilmington to the Virginia border and includes the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds inside the Outer Banks.
At 4 p.m. CDT, Hurricane Earl was 1,000 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., moving to the northwest at 14 mph. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami expect Earl to pass near the Outer Banks on Friday and continue along the East Coast before making landfall Saturday in Nova Scotia.
By the time Earl reaches Canada, it should be significantly weakened, but Tuesday it remained a Category Four hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 135 mph. Hurricane-force winds extend out up to 90 miles from the center of the storm, meaning even if Earl doesn’t directly hit North Carolina, the coast could receive potentially damaging winds.
The NHC called Earl a “large and intense hurricane” and encouraged people north of the hurricane watch area to also monitor the storm’s progress.
Tuesday, Earl passed east of the Turks and Caicos islands and the hurricane is expected to pass to the northeast of the Bahamas Wednesday. The southeastern Bahamas were in a tropical storm watch. Tropical storm-force winds extend out up to 200 miles from the center of Earl.
Tropical Storm Fiona is following closely in Earl’s wake, but so far is not considered nearly as dangerous. A tropical storm warning is in effect for St. Maarten/Martin and St. Barts.
Related: Hurricane Earl may have its eye on North Carolina
Category Four Hurricane Earl moving away from Virgin Islands
Hurricane warning issued for US Virgin Islands as Earl continues west
Hurricane Earl reaches Category Two status as it nears Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda brace for arrival of Hurricane Earl
Hurricane Earl bears down on Antigua and Barbuda
Hurricane warnings issued for Caribbean as Earl approaches
Comments
I visited those islands a few years ago. So lovely, but so low and vulnerable.
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