Hurricane Larry, which was a mere tropical depression off the western Africa coast 10 days ago, passed to the east of Bermuda Thursday.
It produced winds of at least 40 mph in some areas of the island — the low end of the tropical storm force wind range — as well as choppy waters and high surf.
As of early Friday morning, Larry was centered about 400 miles northeast of Bermuda, heading toward eastern Canada. Sustained winds were measured at 85 mph, with higher gusts, making it a Category 1 hurricane.
Larry is a large storm, with hurricane-force winds (at least 74 mph) extending up to 90 miles from its center. Tropical-storm-force winds (39 to 73 mph range) extend up to 240 miles from the center.
The National Hurricane Center expects Larry to gradually weaken over the next day or so, but is forecasting it to remain a hurricane until it passes Newfoundland. It should then become an extratropical cyclone Saturday and will likely be absorbed by a larger extratropical low-pressure system near Greenland by the end of the weekend.
Larry’s forward speed should increase Friday, making landfall Friday night in Newfoundland a good bet. The NHC still has a hurricane warning posted for eastern portions of Newfoundland, including the capital and port city of St. John’s. Tropical storm warnings are in effect for areas just inland to the west.
Based on the NHC’s latest outlook, St. John’s would be just to the east of Larry’s eye at landfall, placing the city in the region of strongest winds and highest storm surge. However, Larry will be moving rapidly when it crosses Newfoundland, so any flooding and wind damage will not likely be major or widespread. Disruptions to supply chains and shipping should be short term (a day or two) rather than long term in nature.
By Sunday, Larry will head toward Greenland, producing coastal rain and inland snow in eastern sections of that country.
Other tropical systems
A cluster of thunderstorms off the western Africa coast has a good chance of developing into a tropical depression or the next named storm over the next three to five days. It’s too soon to know if this potential cyclone will impact the U.S.
Another disturbance lurking in the southern Caribbean could dump heavy rain in parts of Central America this weekend, possibly drenching southern Texas Sunday night into Monday.
If these systems become tropical storms, their names would be Nicholas and Odette.
Hurricane Olaf will continue to produce strong winds and flooding rain Friday in the southern part of Baja California. The storm should head west over open waters by late Friday night or early Saturday.
Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.
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