Hurricane Franklin remained a powerful Category 4 storm Tuesday despite experiencing some weakening overnight. Photo courtesy of NOAA
Aug. 29 (UPI) — Hurricane Franklin is generating life-threatening surf and rip currents on Bermuda and large parts of the U.S. east coast, forecasters said in their latest advisory on Tuesday.
Threatening weather conditions are expected to increase for Bermuda today, National Hurricane Center forecasters said, who added that tropical storm conditions reaching the island today will make it difficult to continue storm preparations.
Tropical storm conditions are expected to reach Bermuda by Wednesday morning, forecasters warned.
In its 5 p.m. EDT update, the National Hurricane Center said the Category 4 storm, the first major hurricane of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, was located about 305 miles west of Bermuda, and had maximum sustained winds of 125 mph.
Franklin was moving north-northeast at 12 mph and had an estimated minimum central pressure is 947 mb.
A tropical storm watch was in effect for Bermuda, meaning tropical storm conditions are possible for the area within 48 hours. The center of Franklin is expected to pass well to the west of Bermuda on Wednesday.
“A north-northeastward to northeastward motion with a faster forward speed is expected during the next few days,” NHC forecasters said. “On the forecast track, the center of Franklin is expected to pass to the northwest of Bermuda on Wednesday.”
As Franklin was heading toward Bermuda on Tuesday, Tropical Storm Idalia was heading for Florida where it is forecast to hit Wednesday as a major hurricane.
