Tracking Danielle and Earl

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Tracking Danielle and Earl

There are two storms to watch in the Atlantic today -- Hurricane Danielle and Tropical Storm Earl. As of early this morning Danielle was a category 2 hurricane and is forecast to become a category 3 storm in the coming days. Fortunately, we are confident Danielle will take a more northerly turn this weekend taking the hurricane away from the U.S. coast and just east of Bermuda.

Even though Danielle will pass far off the Carolina coastline this weekend, the storm will still create dangerous rip currents at the North Carolina beaches. Earlier this season, the coast experienced dangerous rip currents when Colin passed off shore. One person drowned that weekend off of Ocracoke. This weekend's rip currents could be even more dangerous than when Colin passed offshore. These dangerous rip currents could begin as early as Saturday and continue into early next week. Beach-goers should avoid the water this weekend.

Behind Danielle, our attention will turn to Earl which is a fairly weak tropical storm for now. However, as Earl tracks over the warm Atlantic waters it is expected to become a hurricane this weekend. Several long range models eventually turn Earl out to sea next week. With the storm so far out and with that turn not forecast until 5 days or more from now, we cannot say with a lot of certainty that that turn will occur. We'll continue to watch the storm and keep you updated.

Danielle and Earl may not be the only two systems to watch over the coming days. It appears the area off the African coast will remain a breeding ground for tropical systems. This morning's satellite picture posted below shows another wave moving off the African coast this morning...