Over the weekend, Larry became the third major hurricane (Category 3 or higher) of this year’s Atlantic season and the fifth hurricane overall.
Container ship captains will have to steer clear as the storm tracks toward the island of Bermuda this week, followed by eastern Canada.
As of early Tuesday morning, Larry was over open waters centered about 830 miles southeast of Bermuda. Larry was moving toward the northwest at about 10 mph, and this general motion will likely continue through Wednesday, with an increase in forward speed Thursday. Maximum sustained winds were near 120 mph with higher gusts, putting Larry at Category 3 strength.
Larry is a large hurricane, with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 70 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds extending outward up to 185 miles from the center. Even though Larry will probably not make a direct hit in Bermuda, the storm will come close enough to produce large swells, very choppy waters and dangerous rip currents around the island beginning Wednesday. The National Hurricane Center may issue a tropical storm watch for Bermuda sometime Tuesday.
Significant swells will also reach the East Coast of the U.S. and Atlantic Canada by midweek and continue affecting these shores through the end of the week.
By the time Larry reaches eastern Canada, an early Saturday landfall with sustained winds of 85 mph is possible in Newfoundland, potentially impacting the capital city of St. John’s.
Look for more updates on Larry on the FreightWaves website and social media accounts.
Other tropical systems
A disorganized cluster of showers and thunderstorms over the south-central Gulf of Mexico is expected to move slowly northeastward over the central and northeastern Gulf of Mexico over the next couple of days. Upper-level winds are currently unfavorable for development, but they are forecast to become marginally conducive for some limited development as the system gets close to the northern Gulf Coast Wednesday and Wednesday night. The disturbance is then expected to cross the southeastern U.S., and some tropical or subtropical development will be possible after it emerges off the Southeast coast late this week.
Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.
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