Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) has declared an area of disturbed weather north of Puerto Rico Tropical Storm Danny today, skipping the tropical depression stage.

A statement by the NHC said “a general northwestward motion with a decrease in forward speed is expected today and Thursday, with a turn toward the north-northwest expected on Friday.” This path should bring Danny near the North Carolina early this weekend, and possibly threatening the New England region by Sunday. While the storm is currently weak and disorganized, forecasters say the storm could reach Category 1 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. However, it is not expected to be as strong as the previous storm, Hurricane Bill.

The center’s most recent forecast discussion on the tropical storm said “The forecast track is roughly parallel to the U.S. East Coast…and any deviation from the track could make a large difference in what areas get impacted by Danny”.

Some residents in the northeast U.S. are already monitoring Danny. Long Island, recovering from coastal flooding just last week as Hurricane Bill passed offshore, might suffer another hit.

Danny is currently situated about 445 mi (715 km) east of Nassau, Bahamas, and has winds of 45 mph (75 km/h). It is moving west-northwest at 16 kt. All interests along the East Coast are urged to keep an eye on the developing storm over coming days.