BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The center of Tropical Storm Ernesto was located near the French island of Guadeloupe and the Leeward islands on Tuesday with maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (mph).
“Gradual strengthening is expected during the next few days, and Ernesto could reach hurricane strength by Thursday over the waters north of the Greater Antilles,” the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest weather bulletin.”
The fifth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is located 10 miles southeast of Guadeloupe and is moving toward the west at nearly 20 mph.
Tropical Storm warnings are in effect for St. Kitts- Nevis, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Guadeloupe, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, Sint Maarten, the British Virgin Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
The NHC said that Tropical Storm Ernesto’s center was located near latitude 16.2 North, longitude 61.3 West and that a west-northwestward motion with some decrease in forward speed is expected during the next day or so.
“On the forecast track, Ernesto is expected to move across portions of the Leeward Islands this morning and near or over the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico by this.
evening. After passing Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Ernesto is forecast to turn northward over the western Atlantic.”
The NHC said maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph with higher gusts. Tropical Storm Ernesto is expected to produce four to six inches of rain over portions of the Leeward and Virgin Islands. Elsewhere in the Caribbean, Tropical Storm Ernesto is expected to produce rain accumulations of one to four inches over the Windward islands through Friday morning.
Antigua and Barbuda officials have since announced that the V.C. Bird International Airport will be closed until later on Tuesday. Public sector workers on the island will also be absent on Tuesday.
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