The Category 1 hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph as of 2 a.m. EDT, according to the National Hurricane Center.
“Strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days, and Ernesto could become a major hurricane by Friday,” the hurricane center said.
After passing over the Virgin Islands on Tuesday and then sidestepping Puerto Rico, Ernesto was about 675 miles southwest of Bermuda as of the center’s 2 a.m. update.
In Puerto Rico, about half of all customers on the island were at one point without power Wednesday, according to LUMA Energy, the private company that operates the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico.
Multiple flood warnings were still in effect Wednesday evening for northern parts of Puerto Rico.
Following its strong winds that caused hundreds of thousands of people in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to lose power, Hurricane Ernesto dumped torrential rainfall on the island as it moved away from the island on Wednesday afternoon.
As of two in the morning, the Category 1 hurricane’s maximum sustained winds were 85 mph. m. The National Hurricane Center states that EDT.
By Friday, Ernesto might develop into a major hurricane, according to the hurricane center, as strengthening is predicted over the next few days. A major hurricane is defined as a storm that reaches Category 3 or above.
By Wednesday afternoon, the storm’s center was more than 300 miles northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, but the rainy weather persisted throughout the evening on the island. At two in the morning, Ernesto was roughly 675 miles southwest of Bermuda after skirting Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on Tuesday. m. revision.
Winds gusting over 74 mph, hurricane-force, were felt in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, far from the center of the storm. The island was placed under a hurricane watch by the Bermuda Weather Service on Wednesday afternoon, meaning that by Friday afternoon, tropical storm force winds may arrive at its beaches.
In the coming days, meteorologists anticipate that Ernesto will shift to the north and northeast, centered around Bermuda by Saturday morning or early afternoon, along with hurricane-force winds.
The private company that runs Puerto Rico’s power transmission and distribution, LUMA Energy, reports that on Wednesday, nearly half of the island’s customers were without power for a brief period of time. Over 540,000 people remained without power by Wednesday night.
According to PowerOutage . us, nearly 28,000 customers—or roughly 55% of the island’s tracked customers—were without power in the US Virgin Islands.
In Puerto Rico, more than half a foot of rain fell, and on Wednesday afternoon, the storm’s lingering bands of storms continued to dump rain, resulting in flash flooding, particularly in the island’s eastern and southern regions as well as the Virgin Islands.
A preliminary weather service report states that over 10 inches of rain fell in the mountain town of Barranquitas in a 24-hour period, while about 9 and a half inches fell in Villalba.
There were still several flood warnings in force for Puerto Rico’s northern regions as of Wednesday night.
Impacted water processing systems.
The water authority of Puerto Rico reports that heavy rains and flooding caused several rivers to overflow and partially or completely stopped the filtration of water at several water treatment facilities.
The island’s emergency portal system indicates that as of early Wednesday afternoon, over 120,000 water customers—roughly 10% of all customers—were without drinking water due to these disruptions.
Though Ernesto has now entered open Atlantic waters, for much of the day its force was still felt throughout the Caribbean.
Storm surge caused early Wednesday water levels to rise by one to three feet along Puerto Rico’s eastern coastline. Over the weekend, anyone in the water could be in danger from rip tides and life-threatening swells.
Puerto Rico Gov. When Pedro Pierluisi ordered people to take cover in their homes, the National Guard was called into action. Public schools have been closed throughout the island, and close to eighty shelters have opened.
As the island’s flimsy and antiquated electrical grid is still being repaired after Hurricane Maria severely damaged it in 2017, residents had been warned to prepare for widespread power outages.
Puerto Ricans, many of whom have witnessed the agonizingly slow efforts to modernize an electrical grid that remains extremely vulnerable to natural disasters, are familiar with the frustration of power outages.
According to LUMA Energy, it has dispatched crews to all of the islands in order to address outages. Additionally, Juan Saca, president of LUMA, asked members to report blackouts, pointing out that the utility might not be aware of every one of them.
According to The Associated Press, Saca stated on Tuesday that “Puerto Rico’s electrical system is not sufficiently modernized to detect power outages.”.
Where Ernesto’s next destination is.
Ernesto moved out of the Caribbean and into open Atlantic waters on Wednesday, where it is predicted to intensify even more. Ernesto started to curve slowly to the north.
Ernesto is expected to intensify into a strong Category 3 major hurricane by the end of this week. It may also maintain its intensity as a powerful Category 2 hurricane when it makes landfall close to Bermuda this weekend. The storm’s potential impact on Bermuda will be determined by how near it passes the small island, which is about one-third the size of Washington, DC.
As per the US hurricane center, “Bermuda may see flash flooding later this week and this weekend due to rainfall associated with Ernesto,” which could start as early as Thursday.
If the hurricane passes just west of the island as currently predicted, Bermuda will experience stronger winds and rain. If Ernesto moves to the island’s east, it might be protected from stronger storms.
Extremely warm ocean waters, a result of pollution from fossil fuels raising global temperatures, and little upper level winds that can disrupt storms will be the sources of Ernesto’s strength.
Despite a track somewhere over the open Atlantic, Ernesto will have significant effects later this week and this weekend.
Although the US mainland is not directly threatened by the storm, the entire Eastern Seaboard will experience hazardous beach conditions.
The hurricane center stated that waves are predicted to arrive on the US east coast on Thursday night and to last through the weekend. Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions could result from these swells. “.
Is there more tropical trouble to come?
Other than Ernesto, no tropical systems are anticipated in the Atlantic until early next week at the latest.
This brief pause in recent progress won’t last long.
The Climate Prediction Center predicts that the likelihood of another hurricane will increase once more later in August and continue until at least early September.
The most active part of hurricane season is from mid-August to roughly mid-October, so the anticipated ramp-up makes sense.
However, tropical activity in the Atlantic is already outpacing the norm. It usually takes until late August or early September for the basin to see its fifth named storm or its third hurricane.
In what is predicted to be an extremely busy season, both have already happened.
This report was assisted by CNN Meteorologist Taylor Ward, Ella Nilsen, and Amanda Musa.
