Storm May Bring Tropical Storm Conditions to Bermuda

HAMILTON, BERMUDA – While Hurricane Idalia has captured much of the media’s attention with its assault on Florida, Hurricane Franklin has quietly become a monster storm as well.  Fortunately for residents along the East Coast of the United States, Franklin’s fury is far away.  A cold front that is pushing into the Eastern United States is helping to keep Franklin away.

Emerging as a tropical storm about 10 days ago in the Central Caribbean, Franklin pushed through the island of Hispaniola as a tropical storm.  After dealing with the rugged terrain of that island, which is home to both Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  Franklin gradually strengthened into a behemoth of a storm.  On Monday, Franklin became the strongest storm to date in the Atlantic with winds just shy of Category Five intensity at 150 miles per hour.

Since then, Franklin has steadily declined down to a minimal Category Three storm with 115 miles per hour.  In contrast to Idalia, which has an eye that is only about 11 miles wide in diameter, Franklin has a very wide eye that is over 50 miles in diameter.  Franklin was a classic textbook hurricane on Monday with a symmetric core and outflow.

Although Franklin is not expected to directly impact the East Coast of the United States, the vast storm is generating large swells.  These large swells, combined with the above normal high tides due to the Supermoon, will produce coastal flooding, rip currents, and rough surf.  Late in the afternoon on Tuesday, large waves from these swells crashed ashore along the Boardwalk at North Wildwood in Cape May County, New Jersey.

The rough surf and rip current conditions will peak along the Mid-Atlantic coastline on Wednesday.  The storm is on a trajectory to head into the North Atlantic.  Franklin’s remnants could affect Iceland and Europe over the next week or so.  Meanwhile, a new depression emerged in the Atlantic on Tuesday.

Currently, TD #11 is located in the Central Atlantic some 790 miles to the East-Southeast of Bermuda.  Maximum sustained winds are 35 miles per hour.  Minimum central pressure is rather high at 1014 millibars, or 29.95 inches of Hg (Mercury).  The depression is also nearly stationary as it meanders at a rate of only 2 miles per hour to the West-Northwest.

Activity has finally picked up in the Atlantic just in time for peak season.  The peak period of the Atlantic Hurricane Season is usually from Mid-August to early October.  There is also a secondary peak that occurs toward the end of October as well.  The statistical peak of the Atlantic season is on September 10th.