Tropical Storm Philippe is on track to pass near Bermuda on Friday before moving toward eastern New England and Atlantic Canada this weekend, the National Hurricane Center said.
A tropical storm warning has been issued for Bermuda, where tropical storm conditions are expected to start Friday night, according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters project 3 to 6 inches of rain there through Friday, and large swells were already reaching the island Wednesday night.
Philippe’s maximum sustained winds were holding at 40 mph as of 5 a.m. Thursday and are expected to reach a maximum of 60 mph by early Saturday, well below the 74 mph threshold for a Category 1 hurricane. Previous forecasts had Philippe reaching Category 1 strength.
As of 5 a.m., Philippe was about midway between Puerto Rico and Bermuda, moving north at 12 mph. Its tropical-storm-force winds extended out 205 miles to the east of the storm’s center, the latest advisory said.
Hurricane Lee, which became a major hurricane in the Atlantic in early September, caused hurricane and tropical storm watches in parts of Atlantic Canada while it approached the coast and became a post-tropical cyclone before it moved across the region.
By the time Philippe moves over parts of Atlantic Canada this weekend, it is likely to be a post-tropical cyclone, forecasters said late Wednesday afternoon.
Though the storm is heading north, swells from Philippe will continue to affect parts of the northern Leeward Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico through Thursday, and could cause dangerous rip currents and surf, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Meanwhile, the hurricane center is watching a new tropical wave moving off the west coast of Africa, which is being given a 30% chance of developing over the next week as it moves into the eastern Atlantic.
So far this season in the Atlantic, there have been 16 named storms, six of which were hurricanes. Of those, three were major hurricanes, meaning Category 3 or above.
Those were Hurricane Lee, a rare Category 5; Hurricane Franklin, a Category 4; and Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall on Florida’s Big Bend region at Category 3 strength on Aug. 30.
The next named storm will be Sean.
Hurricane season officially runs through Nov. 30.
