The fourth named storm of the hurricane season, Dorian, strengthened Wednesday into a hurricane near the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas — and by the weekend it may threaten off Florida’s coast as a Category 3 storm.
The National Hurricane Center said Wednesday in its 2 p.m. EST update that Dorian was located right above St. Thomas with maximum winds of 75 mph – a 25 mph increase from Tuesday – as it moved northwest at 13 mph.
A hurricane warning has been issued for U.S. Virgin Islands, in addition to the British Virgin Islands, Vieques and Culebra, which means that hurricane conditions are expected within the next 12 hours. A hurricane watch is in effect for Puerto Rico, where a tropical storm warning is also in effect for the same areas.
TROPICAL STORM DORIAN’S PATH: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The center of Dorian is forecast to track over or near the U.S. and the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico later Wednesday before the storm then moves east of Turks and Caicos and the southeastern Bahamas on Thursday, and near or to the east of the central and northwestern Bahamas on Friday and Saturday.
“This is trending in the wrong direction,” Fox News Meteorologist Adam Klotz said Wednesday on “Fox & Friends.” “It’s strengthening, maybe spending more time over warm water, which will allow it to continue to pick up those wind speeds, pick up all that extra moisture. It’s looking like a tough system.” – READ MORE