Hurricane Jose is traveling up the East Coast of the US and could affect an area from North Carolina to New England, according to the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center.
Tropical storm warnings are in effect for parts of New England from Watch Hill, Rhode Island, to Hull, Massachusetts, including Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket, as of 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Those areas can expect tropical storm conditions within the next 24 to 36 hours.
Jose’s center will most likely stay out at sea, but the NHC reported that the East Coast of the US was already feeling dangerous surf and rip currents because of the storm. Swells from Jose have also affected the Bahamas and Bermuda.
A tropical storm watch has been issued along the coast of Long Island from Fire Island Inlet to Port Jefferson.
Even if Jose stays offshore as expected, parts of the coast and Mid-Atlantic are expected to experience powerful gusts of wind, heavy rainfall with isolated flooding, and dangerous ocean conditions, including coastal flooding.
National Hurricane Center
Jose was at one point a powerful Category 4 storm. It menaced parts of the Caribbean that had already been devastated by Hurricane Irma but turned north and spun a loop in the Atlantic. That weakened Jose to tropical storm status, but an Air Force “hurricane hunter” plane found that the storm strengthened again over the weekend.
#Jose off NC Coast. Regarding #Maria, too early to know of any impacts, if any, on us. Never too early to check your hurricane plan. pic.twitter.com/tkkCZpbXqi
— NWS Newport/Morehead (@NWSMoreheadCity) September 19, 2017
As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, Jose had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, with some higher gusts, and was moving north at 10 mph. It’s expected to turn northeast sometime Tuesday night, the NHC said, then weaken to a tropical storm once more on Wednesday.
This year’s Atlantic hurricane season has been unusually active, and we’re just now at the peak time for storm activity.
Hurricane Maria, a powerful Category 5 storm, is currently moving through the Caribbean. The storm devastated the island of Dominica and is likely to hit Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands directly.
Jose is a particularly big storm, so if it stays where it is, that could help keep Maria away from the East Coast of the US.
Rebecca Harrington and Mark Abadi contributed to this post.
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