Tropical Storm Felix rapidly increased in strength Saturday, going from a tropical depression to near hurricane intensity in about 12 hours.
Tropical Strorm Felix’s position. Image: Accuweather |
As of 4pm Cayman time, Felix was located about 395 miles south of San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was moving westward about 18 mph and the general motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours.
The storm is passing through an environment of low wind shear and high sea surface temperatures, which are conducive to strengthening. NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami predicts Felix will become a hurricane within 12 hours, and a major Category 3 hurricane by Tuesday.
On its current projected path, Felix will pass well south of the Cayman Islands on its way westward. If Felix maintains the official track expected by NOAA, it will pass more than 200 miles south of Grand Cayman on Tuesday morning and make landfall in northern Belize as a strong Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon.
Some computer models show a weakness in the high pressure ridge to the north of the system that would allow a northwest motion. Should that happen, Felix could pass closer to the Cayman Islands.
Another tropical wave in the Atlantic become better organised on Saturday as well. This wave, now labelled 98L, could develop further and enter the Caribbean sometime in the middle part of next week.
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