ALERT #46 ON HURRICANE DORIAN ISSUED BY THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY AT 12:00 PM EDT, TUESDAY, 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019.
… HURRICANE DORIAN IS FINALLY MOVING NORTHWESTWARD AND GROWING IN SIZE…
…DANGEROUS WINDS AND LIFE-THREATENING STORM SURGE CONTINUES ON GRAND BAHAMA…
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 11AM EDT, THE EYE OF HURRICANE DORIAN WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 27.1 DEGREES NORTH AND LONGITUDE 78.6 DEGREES WEST. THIS POSITION PUTS THE EYE OF DORIAN ABOUT 45 MILES NORTH OF FREEPORT, GRAND BAHAMA, 125 MILES NORTH-NORTHEAST OF BIMINI, AND 160 MILES NORTH-NORTHWEST OF NEW PROVIDENCE.
DORIAN IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST AT ABOUT 2 MILES-PER-HOUR. A SLIGHTLY FASTER MOTION TOWARD THE NORTHWEST OR NORTH-NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. A TURN TOWARD THE NORTH IS FORECAST BY WEDNESDAY EVENING, FOLLOWED BY A TURN TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST THURSDAY MORNING. ON THIS TRACK, THE CORE OF EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE DORIAN WILL CONTINUE TO GRADUALLY MOVE NORTH OF GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND THROUGH THIS EVENING.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 110 MILES PER HOUR WITH HIGHER GUSTS. 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.
THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY’S DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR IN NEW PROVIDENCE AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT HURRICANE MODELS INDICATE THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE IN GRAND BAHAMA, ABACO, BERRY ISLANDS AND BIMINI THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. STRONG FEEDER BANDS WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT THE REMAINDER OF THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS, INCLUDING NEW PROVIDENCE, ANDROS, ELEUTHERA, EXUMA, CAT ISLAND, RUM CAY SAN SALVADOR AND LONG ISLAND. WITHIN THESE FEEDER BANDS, THERE WILL BE HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF TORNADIC ACTIVITY.
A LIFE THREATENING 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 SLOWLY SUBSIDE ON ABACO ISLAND TODAY.
DORIAN IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 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 3PM, TUESDAY 3RDSEPTEMBER 2019.
PREPARED BY: JEFFREY SIMMONS
