Isaac to hit Lesser Antilles Thursday, strong Florence heads to US coast
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Meteorological (Met) Service of Jamaica is reporting that Tropical Storm Isaac is expected to move over the Lesser Antilles Thursday and enter the central Caribbean Sea by this weekend.
According to an update a short while ago, at 4:00 pm the centre of Isaac was located near latitude 14.6 North, longitude 51.3 West or about 1,075 km east of the Lesser Antilles.
Isaac is said to be moving toward the west near 28 km/h and this general motion is expected to continue through the next few days.
It is currently not a threat to Jamaica.
Maximum sustained winds remain near 110 km/h with higher gusts.
Isaac is expected to be near hurricane strength when it moves through the Lesser Antilles, with some weakening forecasted afterwards on Friday and Saturday, the Met Service said.
In the meantime, Hurricane Florence, which is now considered dangerous, is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge to the Carolinas in the United States.
At 4:00 pm, the eye of Florence was located by satellite near latitude 27.5 North, longitude 67.1 West or about 1,260 km east-southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina.
At the same time, Hurricane Helene is expected to gradually weaken over the cooler waters of the eastern Atlantic.
At 4:00 pm, the eye of Hurricane Helene was located near latitude 17.2 north, longitude 34.9 West or about 1,170 km west of the Cabo Verde Islands. Helene is moving toward the northwest near 19 km/h and this motion is expected to continue tonight with a turn toward the north-northwest on Wednesday. Thereafter, Helene should re-curve northeastward with increasing forward speed. Maximum sustained winds are near 165 km/h with higher gusts.
Neither Florence nor Helene is a threat to Jamaica.