At 5 pm EDT the NHC "discussion" reports that Hurricane Ophelia's "unusually large diameter eye" had "become sharper" and its [surface] winds have increased" to near 80 mph.
The Public Advisory issued at the same time reports "maximum sustained winds" of 85 mph and tropical force winds extending "outward 140 miles."
By the end of the afternoon, the center of Hurricane Ophelia was 40 miles east of Wilmington, N.C. and 50 miles southwest of Cape Lookout, N.C. The forecast track still calls for landfall "along the southeastern coast of North Carolina near Cape Lookout."
Ominously, the NHC says in capital letters:
THERE IS STILL A SMALL WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR OPHELIA TO STRENGTHEN A LITTLE MORE...POSSIBLY EVEN REACHING CATEGORY 2 STATUS... ."Raleigh, N.C. TV station WRAL reports that "Authorities expected the storm's passage across North Carolina to take some 48 hours from the start of rainfall on the southeastern coast Tuesday afternoon to the storm's anticipated exit off the Outer Banks and back into the Atlantic late Thursday."
No comments:
Post a Comment