Maps show Hurricane Ernesto's path and forecast as it's upgraded from a tropical storm north of Puerto Rico
Ernesto became a hurricane on Wednesday morning while moving through the Atlantic Ocean north of Puerto Rico, as forecasters had predicted. The National Hurricane Center upgraded Ernesto from a tropical storm once its maximum sustained winds reached 75 miles per hour, and said it could become a major hurricane in the next couple of days.
Ernesto brought heavy flooding to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands while gaining strength on a path through the Caribbean that was headed towards Bermuda. Torrential downpours blanketed parts of Puerto Rico for much of the day Wednesday, dumping nearly 10 inches of rain, swelling rivers and flooding roads.
In the process, Ernesto also knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of residents in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
As of 11 p.m. Wednesday, forecasters said Ernesto had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, exceeding the 74 mph threshold that separates hurricanes and tropical storms. It was traveling northwest at 16 mph. Its center was located some 690 miles southwest of Bermuda and 175 miles northeast of Grand Turk Island.
The Miami-based hurricane center said in its latest update that the center of Ernesto was expected to pass near Bermuda on Saturday, and was forecast to strengthen into a major hurricane by Friday. A hurricane watch has been issued for Bermuda.
Ernesto became the fifth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season when it formed Monday along a fast-moving path to the Caribbean. The storm comes on the heels of Hurricane Debby, which lashed parts of the southeastern United States last week with disastrous flooding and brewed up a flash of severe weather that ultimately touched much of the East Coast. Ernesto isn't expected to strike the U.S. mainland, the hurricane center said.
Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 45 miles from the eye of the storm on Wednesday, while tropical-storm-force winds had splayed out up to 175 miles from the center. The latter marked a massive expansion from Ernesto's 70-mile reach Tuesday.
Hurricane watches are issued when hurricane conditions are possible in a given area within 12 hours or so. Tropical storm warnings are issued when forecasters expect tropical storm conditions to impact an area within 36 hours.
"Ernesto is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 3 to 6 inches on Bermuda with isolated maximum amounts of 9 inches," the hurricane center wrote in its latest advisory. "This rainfall may result in considerable life-threatening flash flooding."
Not unlike Debby, which dumped devastating and, in some instances, historic rainfall on southeastern U.S. states last week, Ernesto's primary threat was heavy rain, although less rain was forecast for this week compared with last week's hurricane.
Ernesto was also forecast to drive ocean swells affecting parts of the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas, before reaching Bermuda, the hurricane center said. Forecasters warned the swells would likely cause dangerous, and potentially deadly, rip currents and surf conditions.
"Even though Ernesto is forecast to remain well offshore the U.S. East Coast, swells generated by the storm are expected to reach the area late this week and into the weekend," the hurricane center wrote in an 11 a.m. advisory. "Beach goers should be aware of a significant risk of life-threatening surf and rip currents, and stay out of the water if advised by lifeguards."
