RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Hurricane Ernesto strengthened to a Category 2 storm Thursday night and is forecast to hold that strength and hit Bermuda this weekend.
Ernesto is the fifth named storm of the season, and on average, we have our fifth named storm around Aug. 22. That means Ernesto formed about a week and a half earlier than average but is still pretty close to when we would expect it.
The latest from the National Hurricane Center has winds with Ernesto at 100 mph and moving north-northeast at 14 mph.
Ernesto is also our third hurricane so far, but that’s a bit unusual as it’s 24 days ahead when we typically see our third hurricane around Sept. 7. (A fun, or not-so-fun fact, the last time a hurricane season had three or more hurricanes by Aug. 14 was the record-breaking season of 2005.)
Ernest is no longer forecast to become a major, Category 3 hurricane, but still a significant impact is expected for Bermuda.
Fortunately, it looks to stay away from North Carolina, with no major impacts here at home except for a high risk for rip currents along the coast this weekend.
A P-3 Orion aircraft from the Hurricane Hunters made a rare stop in Wilmington, NC Thursday.
“Our aircraft moved from Barbados to Wilmington, N.C. conducting missions to Ernesto. They are flying one more mission tomorrow and recovering back to Lakeland, FL to end the flight series,” stated a representative from NOAA.
