This blog will be updated with all the latest information on hurricanes and other storms throughout the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane season. The American Press staff will make posts as situations warrant.

We can be reached at these e-mail addresses during a storm:
- NEWS DEPT.: lcamericanpress@gmail.com
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Bookmark this page! It will remain in operation even if the main American Press site loses power.

Earl glances off NC on northward trek (9/3)

Posted September 3, 2010 at 1:28 pm
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By the ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHATHAM, Mass. — A weakening Hurricane Earl swiped past North Carolina on Friday on its way to New England, where officials warned residents that it still packed dangerous winds that could topple trees or damage the area’s picturesque gray-shingled cottages.

Earl dropped to a Category 1 storm — down from a powerful Category 4 a day earlier — with sustained winds of 80 mph. The storm could weaken to a tropical storm by the time it passes about 50 to 75 miles southeast of Nantucket on Friday night, said National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read.

“The good news on Earl is it has been steadily weakening, maybe even a little quicker than forecast,” Read said.

Nantucket police chief William Pittman warned island residents against complacency, saying Earl was “still a dangerous storm” with severe winds that could be stronger than those carried by the gusty nor’easters the island is used to absorbing.

The National Hurricane Center reduced the New England areas under a hurricane warning to just Cape Cod and the islands. The rest of the New England coast remained under tropical storm warnings and watches.

As of 2 p.m. EDT, Earl’s center was located about 290 miles (465 kilometers) south-southwest of Nantucket, Mass., and moving north-northeast at nearly 21 mph (33 kph).

Most of the hurricane force winds were expected to remain offshore. The National Weather Service was forecasting winds up to 65 mph on Nantucket with gusts up to 85 mph. On Cape Cod, winds up to 45 mph with gusts of up to 60 mph were expected.

Earl sideswiped North Carolina’s Outer Banks early Friday, flooding the vacation islands but causing no injuries and little damage. The storm’s winds had dropped by then to 105 mph from 145 mph a day before.

Hurricane-force winds, which start at 74 mph, apparently did not reach the Outer Banks, said the National Hurricane Center’s chief forecaster, James Franklin. Officials had urged some 35,000 visitors and residents on the Outer Banks to leave the dangerously exposed islands as the storm closed in, but hundreds chose to wait it out in their boarded-up homes.

Nancy Scarborough of Hatteras said she had about a foot of water underneath her home, which is on stilts. “Once it goes down, it shouldn’t take long to get things back together,” she said.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency Thursday as he urged residents not to panic.

On Friday, many seemed to be following his advice. Traffic was light on both bridges to and from Cape Cod, where the air was still and heavy rains started in the late morning.

In downtown Chatham, a quaint fishing village at Cape Cod’s eastern edge, tourists strolled the bookstores, cafes, candy shops and ice cream parlors on Main Street, largely unconcerned about the coming storm.

A handful of stores had put plywood over their windows, including the Ben Franklin Old Fashioned Variety Store. “C’mon Earl, we’re ready for you,” a handwritten note read.

In a parking lot near downtown, five large utility trucks sat waiting and linemen milled about, ready to fix any possible power outages. A handful of people walked on a beach nearby, the waves gently lapping the sand.

In Barnstable, Ellen McDonough, of Boston, and a friend were waiting Friday morning for one of the last ferries to Nantucket before service was stopped around noon. The two had planned a Labor Day weekend getaway to the island and didn’t see Earl as a good reason to cancel.

“It’s not a three-foot snow storm. I think us New Englanders are tough,” McDonough said. “We’ve had this weekend planned, and no hurricane is going to stop us.”

Scott Thomas, president of the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce, said island residents were taking the coming storm in stride.

“This is not something that is really unheard of for us, in terms of being prepped for it and being ready to handle something like this,” he said. “We kind of roll with the punches out here; it’s not a huge deal for us.”

Thomas Kinton Jr., executive director of the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan International Airport in Boston, said he didn’t expect major commercial airlines to cancel flights because of Earl. Cape Air, which serves Cape Cod, will be ending its flights at midday Friday, he said.

“The potential impacts to (Logan) airport are lessening as the hurricane gets closer,” Kinton said.

In New York City, officials were on alert but said they expected to see only side effects of the storm — mostly rain and high winds, with possible soil erosion on the beaches and flooding along the oceanside coasts of Brooklyn and Queens.

In Rhode Island, Gov. Donald Carcieri signed a disaster declaration Thursday, giving emergency workers access to state and federal resources to deal with problems that may be caused by the hurricane. Block Island, a popular Rhode Island tourist destination, was expected to gusts as high as 60 mph.

At Acadia National Park in Maine officials closed most of a road where thousands of visitors gathered last year to watch the swells from Hurricane Bill, and a 20-foot wave swept a 7-year-old girl to her death.

Just off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire, some island residents decided to play it safe and return to the mainland.

Robert Bohlmann, emergency management agency director in York County, Maine, said some homes on the rocky Isles of Shoals belong to fishermen who have no intention of leaving.

“You couldn’t get them off the island if you dragged them,” Bohlmann said. “It’s their homes and they’re don’t want to leave.”

Earl closes in on East Coast (9/2)

Posted September 2, 2010 at 4:52 pm
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By the ASSOCIATED PRESS

BUXTON, N.C. — The last ferry left for the mainland and coastal residents hunkered down at home as Hurricane Earl closed in with 115 mph winds Thursday on North Carolina’s dangerously exposed Outer Banks, the first and potentially most destructive stop on the storm’s projected journey up the Eastern Seaboard.

The hurricane’s leading edge brought on-and-off light rain in the afternoon to the long ribbon of barrier islands, which were expected to get the brunt of the storm around midnight.

Earl’s arrival could mark the start of at least 24 hours of stormy, windy weather along the East Coast. During its march up the Atlantic, it could snarl travelers’ Labor Day weekend plans and strike a second forceful blow to the vacation homes and cottages on Long Island, Nantucket Island and Cape Cod.

It was unclear exactly how close Earl’s center and its strongest winds would get to land. But Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate said people shouldn’t wait for the next forecast to act.

“This is a day of action. Conditions are going to deteriorate rapidly,” he said.

Shelters were open in inland North Carolina, and officials on Nantucket Island, Mass., planned to set up a shelter at a high school on Friday. North Carolina shut down ferry service between the Outer Banks and the mainland. Boats were being pulled from the water in the Northeast, and lobstermen in Maine set their traps out in deeper water to protect them.

As of Thursday afternoon, though, the only evacuations ordered were on the Outer Banks, which sticks out into the Atlantic Ocean like the side-view mirror on a car, vulnerable to a sideswiping. About 35,000 tourists and residents were urged to leave.

Earl weakened into a Category 3 storm with 115 mph winds on Thursday. A slow winding down was expected to continue as the storm moved into cooler waters, but forecasters warned the size of the storm’s wind field was increasing, similar to what happened when Hurricane Katrina approached the Gulf Coast five years ago.

“It will be bigger. The storm won’t be as strong, but they spread out as they go north and the rain will be spreading from New England,” National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read said.

The eye of the storm was expected to pass about 50 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. But even at that distance, Earl could have a punishing effect, since hurricane-force winds of 74 mph or more extended 70 miles from its center and tropical storm-force winds of at least 35 mph reached more than 200 miles out.

Hundreds of the Outer Banks’ more hardy residents gassed up their generators and planned to hunker down at home behind their boarded-up windows, even though officials warned them that it could be three days before they could expect any help and that storm surge could again slice through the islands. It took crews two months to fill the breach and rebuild the only road to the mainland when Hurricane Isabel carved a 2,000-foot-wide channel in 2003.

“It’s kind of nerve-racking, but I’ve been through this before,” said 65-year-old Herma De Gier, who has lived in the village of Avon since 1984. De Gier said she will ride out the storm at a neighbor’s house but wants to be close enough to her own property so she can quickly deal with any damage.

Forecasters said that after Earl passes the Outer Banks, a kink in the jetstream over the eastern U.S. should push the storm away from the coast, guiding it like a marble in a groove.

Earl is expected to move north-northeast for much of Friday, staying away from New Jersey and the other mid-Atlantic states, but also passing very close to Long Island, Cape Cod and Nantucket, which could get gusts up to 100 mph. The storm is expected to finally move ashore in Canada sometime Saturday afternoon.

Much of New England should expect strong, gusty winds much like a nor’easter, along with fallen trees and downed power lines, forecasters said.

“This is the strongest hurricane to threaten the Northeast and New England since Hurricane Bob in 1991,” said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center.

Clayton Smith and his colleagues at a yacht servicing company in New England scrambled to Nantucket to pull boats to safety, hoping to get about 40 vessels out of the water in two days.

“Complacency is a bad thing,” Smith said. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

But many people in Nantucket weren’t too worried about Earl. Arno’s Main Street Grill plans to stay open Friday, barring a power outage or an emergency declaration by the governor, said owner Chris Morris. The hurricane might even be good for business.

“There’s not much else to do during a hurricane besides eat and drink,” he said. “I mean, there’s only so many times you can visit the whaling museum.”

The storm is likely to disrupt travel as people try to squeeze in a few more days of summer vacation over Labor Day. Airlines were watching the forecast and said East Coast flights will probably be canceled or delayed on Friday. Many airlines waived fees for changing flights. Amtrak canceled trains to Newport News, near Virginia’s coast, from Richmond, Va., and Washington.

And the Army Corps of Engineers warned it would have to close the two bridges connecting Cape Cod to the rest of Massachusetts if winds got above 70 mph.

Earl nears East Coast; island evacuations begin (9/1)

Posted September 1, 2010 at 2:13 pm
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Powerful Hurricane Earl spun toward the East Coast on Wednesday, driving tourists from North Carolina’s vacation islands and threatening to bring damaging winds and waves all along the Atlantic seaboard through Labor Day weekend.

Visitors took ferries off of Ocracoke Island and were told to leave neighboring Cape Hatteras in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, and federal authorities have warned people along the coast to be prepared to evacuate if necessary.

Earl’s effect on the East Coast will depend on when it makes its expected turn to the northeast.

A later-than-expected turn could mean the storm’s eye makes landfall on the extreme eastern tip of North Carolina as a Category 3 storm late Thursday or early Friday.

If that happens, hurricane-force winds also could reach New York’s Long Island and Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Even if it doesn’t, dangerous rip currents likely to be felt from the Carolinas north.

Virginia’s Gov. Bob McDonnell declared a state of emergency as a precaution, allowing the state to position staff and resources ahead of the storm. Emergency officials as far north as Maine urged people to have disaster plans and supplies ready.

Even the U.S. Navy was altering plans, hustling to get the USS Cole back in port in Norfolk, Va., before the bad weather arrived. The destroyer wasn’t supposed to come home from a seven-month deployment until later this week.

In Virginia Beach, where more than 20,000 long-distance runners, their families and friends are due to arrive this weekend for the Dodge Rock ’n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon, organizers were keeping a close eye on the weather, but few participants had backed out.

“This is definitely on our radar, but at this time it looks like Sunday’s half-marathon will take place as scheduled,” said Dan Cruz.

Earl was still more than 680 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras on Wednesday afternoon, with top sustained winds of 125 mph. Forecasters said Earl is strengthening and could become a Category 4 storm later Wednesday with winds of 131 mph or greater.

It was on track to near the North Carolina shore late Thursday or early Friday and then blow north along the coast, with forecasters cautioning that it was still too early to tell how close the storm may come to land.

The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning for much of the North Carolina coast and hurricane watches from Virginia to Delaware.

Not since Hurricane Bob in 1991 has such a powerful storm had such a large swath of the East Coast in its sights, said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center.

“A slight shift of that track to the west is going to impact a great deal of real estate with potential hurricane-force winds,” Feltgen said.

The only evacuation orders so far affected parts of the Outer Banks, thin strips of beach and land that face the open Atlantic.

Tourist cars, some with campers in tow, lined up for the first ferries of the day from Ocracoke to the mainland. Another car ferry connects to Hatteras, which has a bridge to the mainland and came under the second evacuation order a little later Wednesday morning.

The evacuation orders are called mandatory, but Julia Jarema, spokesman for the state Division of Emergency Management, said it doesn’t mean people will be forced from their homes. Local law enforcement officials may do something such as going door-to-door and asking people who stay behind for information about their next of kin.

Emergency officials said they hoped Ocracoke’s 800 or so year-round residents would heed the call to leave. But Carol Pahl said she and husband Tom would stay put if the current forecasts hold. Only a direct hit from a stronger storm would drive them from the island where they’ve lived for seven years, running an antiques store.

“There’s never been a death on Ocracoke from a hurricane, so we feel pretty comfortable,” Carol Pahl said as tourists departed on ferries and her husband, also a construction contractor, worked to board up the windows of clients’ and friends’ homes. “Everything here is made pretty much with hurricanes in mind.”

Tropical Storm Earl forms in Atlantic (8/25)

Posted August 25, 2010 at 4:50 pm
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MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Earl has formed in the open Atlantic Ocean, but the system is far from land.

Earl has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and is expected to become a hurricane by Friday.

In the Pacific, Hurricane Frank developed off Mexico’s coast. Frank has maximum sustained winds near 75 mph. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Wednesday that Frank could get stronger as it moves away from Mexico’s southwestern coast. Frank is located about 240 miles south of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico, and is moving west-northwest.

Also in the open Atlantic, Hurricane Danielle is moving northwest with winds of about 85 mph. The forecast track has Danielle heading toward Bermuda over the next several days.

TS Frank nears Mexico; Danielle in Atlantic (8/23)

Posted August 23, 2010 at 1:16 pm
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STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

MIAMI — Tropical storm watches and warnings have been extended westward along Mexico’s coast as Tropical Storm Frank churns in the Pacific.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Danielle is getting stronger Monday far out over the Atlantic.

Neither storm is expected to threaten the continental United States.

In Mexico, a tropical storm warning is in effect for the coast from Laguanas de Chacahua westward to Zihuatanejo. A tropical storm watch is in effect from west of Zihuatanejo to Punta San Telmo.

Frank has maximum sustained winds near 60 mph and it’s possible it could become a hurricane by late Tuesday. The storm is located about 205 miles south-southeast of Acapulco, Mexico, and is expected to move parallel along the southern coast through Wednesday.

Danielle appears to be headed toward a course that will take it northward alongside the eastern U.S. coast, possibly making landfall near Nova Scotia or the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Colin forms again, heads to Bermuda (8/6)

Posted August 6, 2010 at 12:52 pm
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By the ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tropical Storm Colin is meandering in the Atlantic as it heads toward Bermuda.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say the center of the storm is located Friday about 380 miles south-southwest of Bermuda and has begun moving east-northeast around 7 mph. Its maximum sustained winds are near 45 mph.

A tropical storm warning was issued for Bermuda and Colin’s center is expected to pass just west of the British territory on Saturday.

In the Pacific, a tropical depression is swirling off the coast of southwestern Mexico. The depression has maximum sustained winds near 35 mph and could become a tropical storm later in the day. The depression is located about 165 miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico, and is moving west-northwest.

Colin weakens, but could grow again (8/5)

Posted August 5, 2010 at 1:34 pm
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From AccuWeather.com:

The remnants of Colin are located several hundred miles to the northeast of Puerto Rico and are tracking to the northwest at about 18 mph. This feature was starting to show better signs of organization today with a more well-defined low level circulation. A reconnaissance aircraft is investigating the area this afternoon.

There have been a couple of factors keeping Colin from redeveloping. The first has been a large area of dry air just north and east of Colin’s remains with a great deal of Saharan dust present. Second, southwesterly winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere have causing a considerable amount of wind shear (variation of wind direction and speed with height), which is an inhibiting factor in the development of tropical systems.

These limiting factors will likely become less of a problem over the next couple of days. Already, the dry air to the north and east of Colin’s remnants has started mixing with more humid tropical air and will continue to do so over the next couple of days. In addition, Colin is moving toward an area where wind shear is weaker. Furthermore, the system will continue moving over very warm waters of the Atlantic with surface temperatures plenty warm enough to support development. Each of these factors could support Colin becoming a tropical cyclone again within the next few days.

System develops into Tropical Storm Colin (8/3)

Posted August 3, 2010 at 12:09 pm
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Tropical Storm Colin is moving rapidly across the Atlantic but early forecasts put it on a track off the U.S. Atlantic seaboard rather than into the Gulf of Mexico, where BP is working to finally plug its blown-out oil well.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the storm has maximum sustained winds near 40 mph Tuesday and some slow strengthening is expected.

Colin is located about 840 miles east-southeast of the Leeward Islands and is moving west near 24 mph.

Colin is the third tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

Tropical Depression 4 forms in the Atlantic (8/2)

Posted August 2, 2010 at 11:32 am
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By the ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI — A tropical depression formed far out in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday and early forecasts put it on a track off the U.S. Atlantic seaboard rather than into the Gulf of Mexico, where BP is working to finally plug its blown-out oil well.

The National Hurricane Center said the depression, with maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, was expected to strengthen in the next 48 hours and could be a tropical storm by Monday night or Tuesday.

Dennis Feltgen with the center said conditions over the next five days are not favorable for the depression to develop beyond tropical storm strength into a full-blown hurricane.

Feltgen said the forecast five-day track keeps the storm on the Atlantic side of the nation’s coast but that it was unclear yet where, if anywhere, it might come ashore.

“At this point, we don’t see any direct impacts on the Gulf of Mexico,” Feltgen said.

Tropical Storm Bonnie briefly interrupted work on BP’s oil spill site last week, after the well was temporarily capped, and the oil company hopes to have a permanent plug in place before hurricane season enters its peak period Aug. 15.

The depression was located about 1,365 miles east of the Lesser Antilles and moving west-northwest at 17 mph.