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Major Hurricane Ike
Headed for the Southeastern Bahamas and Eastern
Cuba...Ike Could Be a Threat to the Florida Keys
Early This Week...Elevated Rip Current Threat
Continues through This Evening along Portions of
the Florida East Coast...
Updated 7:00 AM EDT SundayAt 5 AM EDT
Sunday, the eye of major Hurricane Ike was near
Great Inagua Island in the far southeastern
Bahamas, or about 600 miles to the southeast of
Miami. Maximum sustained winds have increased to
near 135 mph (Category 4) and Ike is moving
west-southwest around 15 mph. Tropical storm
force winds extend outwards to 145 miles and
hurricane force winds extend outwards to 45
miles. Based on the latest forecast, Ike could
threaten the Florida Keys on Tuesday as it
passes over northern Cuba before turning
northwest into the central Gulf of Mexico
towards the end of this week. Any possible
interaction with the Cuban terrain may
temporarily weaken the storm, but Ike is
expected to regain major hurricane strength when
it enters the Gulf of Mexico. The middle and
lower Florida Keys currently lie within the 3
day error cone. Marathon and Key West currently
have a 13%-18% probability of receiving
hurricane force winds and a 60%-65% probability
of receiving tropical storm force winds within
the next 5 days. Hurricane watches could be
posted for portions of the Florida Keys and
South Florida later today or early on Monday.
Much of the western and central Florida
Panhandle lie within the 5 day error cone, but
it is too early to speculate any potential
impacts to Northwest Florida.
***PLEASE NOTE THAT
THERE IS SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTY IN THE
LONG-RANGE FORECAST TRACK OF HURRICANE IKE. IT
IS IMPORTANT THAT ALL FLORIDIANS AND VISITORS
CONTINUE TO MONITOR FUTURE FORECASTS FROM THE
NATIONAL
HURRICANE CENTER AND BEGIN PREPARATIONS NOW
FOR ANY POTENTIAL IMPACTS.***
Tropical Storm Hanna made landfall on
Saturday morning along the North Carolina/South
Carolina border and is now losing tropical
characteristics over New England. All rainfall
associated with Hanna has moved northward away
from Florida; however, the threat of rip
currents will remain moderate to high through
this evening along the East Central Florida and
Northeast Florida coastlines. The rip current
threat may increase along the Southeast Florida
coast this week as Hurricane Ike approaches.
Moderate to major flooding continues along
the middle and lower St. Johns River. For the
latest river flood information, please visit the
Southeast River Forecast Center.
Today, mostly sunny conditions are expected
across much of the Florida Peninsula, while
scattered showers and thunderstorms are forecast
across the eastern Florida Panhandle, Big Bend
and Northeast Florida as the tail end of a cool
front moves across the region.
Check back with floridisaster.org during the
weekend for additional weather updates. |
