Alert #44 Hurricane Dorian still nearly stationary to begin moving on later this morning

Tue, Sep 3rd 2019, 06:00 AM

ALERT #44 ON HURRICANE DORIAN ISSUED BY THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY AT 6:00 AM EDT, TUESDAY, 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019.


… DORIAN STILL NEARLY STATIONARY BUT EXPECTED TO BEGIN MOVING NORTH-NORTHWESTWARD LATER THIS MORNING AND CONTINUES TO POUND GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND…


A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS WHICH INCLUDES: ABACO, GRAND BAHAMA, BIMINI, AND THE BERRY ISLANDS.


A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE BEING EXPERIENCED OR COULD BE EXPERIENCED IN THE MENTIONED ISLANDS WITHIN 36 HOURS.


AT 5AM EDT, THE EYE OF HURRICANE DORIAN WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 26.9 DEGREES NORTH AND LONGITUDE 78.4 DEGREES WEST.  THIS POSITION PUTS THE EYE OF DORIAN ABOUT 35 MILES NORTHEAST OF FREEPORT, GRAND BAHAMA, 97 MILES NORTH-NORTHEAST OF BIMINI, AND 141 MILES NORTH-NORTHWEST OF NEW PROVIDENCE.


DORIAN REMAINS NEARLY STATIONARY JUST NORTH OF GRAND BAHAMA.  A SLOW NORTHWESTWARD MOTION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN LATER THIS MORNING. A TURN TOWARDS THE NORTH IS FORECAST BY WEDNESDAY EVENING, FOLLOWED BY A TURN TO THE NORTH-NORTHEAST ON THURSDAY MORNING. ON THIS TRACK, THE CORE OF EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE DORIAN WILL CONTINUE TO POUND GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND TODAY. THE HURRICANE WILL THEN MOVE DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO THE FLORIDA EAST COAST LATE TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING AND THEN MOVE DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO THE GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA’S COAST ON WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. 


MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 120 MILES PER HOUR WITH HIGHER GUSTS.  DORIAN IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE WIND SCALE. ALTHOUGH GRADUAL WEAKENING IS FORECASTED, DORIAN IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN A POWERFUL HURRICANE DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.


HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 45 MILES FROM THE CENTER, AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 160 MILES FROM THE CENTER.


DEVASTATING HURRICANE CONDITIONS CONTINUE ON GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND. RESIDENTS ARE ADVISED NOT TO VENTURE OUT INTO THE EYE, AS WINDS WILL SUDDENLY INCREASE AFTER THE EYE PASSES.


THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY’S DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR IN NEW PROVIDENCE AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT HURRICANE MODELS INDICATE THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE IN GRAND BAHAMA THROUGH TONIGHT WITH STRONG FEEDER BANDS CONTINUING TO IMPACT THE ABACOS.  WITHIN THESE FEEDER BANDS THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF TORNADIC ACTIVITY. RESIDENTS IN BIMINI AND THE BERRY ISLANDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE IMPACTED BY TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS TONIGHT. IN ADDITION, OUR DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR IS ALSO SHOWING INTENSE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH FEEDER BANDS OVER THE ISANDS OF ANDROS, NEW PROVIDENCE, THE EXUMAS, CAT ISLAND AND NEIGHBOURING CAYS.


SINCE DORIAN IS SLOW-MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS, A LIFE THREATHENING STORM SURGE WILL RAISE WATER LEVELS BY AS MUCH AS 10 TO 15 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS IN AREAS OF ONSHORE WINDS ON GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND. NEAR THE COAST THE SURGE WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE AND DESTRUCTIVE WAVES. WATER LEVELS SHOULD VERY SLOWLY SUBSIDE ON ABACO ISLAND TODAY.   


DORIAN IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 6 INCHES ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS UP TO 30 INCHES; RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS IS EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES, WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS TO 6 INCHES.  FLOODING CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN SEVERAL AREAS ON THE ISLANDS OF NEW PROVIDENCE, ELEUTHERA, ANDROS, EXUMA, CAT ISLAND, AND LONG ISLAND. 


MARINERS ARE ADVISED TO REMAIN IN PORT AS LARGE TO DANGEROUS SWELLS ARE AFFECTING THE NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS.


THE NEXT ALERT ON HURRICANE DORIAN WILL BE ISSUED AT 9AM, TUESDAY  3RD SEPTEMBER 2019.


PREPARED BY: MICHAEL STUBBS/PATRICIA WEEKS


Alert #44 Hurricane Dorian still stationary to begin moving on later this morning

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