Potential Tropical Cyclone

29 Jul 2020 / Bahamas

The Bahamas Department of Meteorology is closely monitoring POTENTIAL TROPICAL CYCLONE NINE which, at 8pm EDT last night (28 July), was near 14.2 N and 58.7 W or about 340 miles east- southeast of The Leeward Islands.

The system is moving west-northwest near 25mph with a slight reduction in forward speed expected over the next few days, and is forecast to move through the Leeward Islands today, near or over the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico tonight, and near or over Hispaniola on Thursday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 40mph with higher gusts. Some strengthening is expected during the next 48 hours.

At present, the system does not have a well-defined center of circulation which can prove to be difficult in forecasting its track and intensity over the next several hours. However, based on its current forecast track, residents throughout the entire Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands should continue to closely monitor the progress of this system as it has the potential to pass through the entire chain of the islands as a Tropical Storm from early Friday morning through Sunday afternoon.

Locally heavy rains and gusty winds that can result in localized flooding are possible across the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Southeast Bahamas from early Thursday and these conditions are then expected to eventually spread into the Central Bahamas by Friday morning and finally into the Northwest Bahamas Saturday morning and persist through late Sunday or early Monday. Residents should be prepared to take quick action in the event a Tropical Storm Alert is issued sometime during the next 24-36 hours.

(For information about operations in the Bahamas, contact the GAC Houston Hub Agency Center at [email protected])

Source: Elnet Maritime – GAC agent

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