
Erika Might Turn into A Hurricane Soon
A storm is coming towards Puerto Rico, and it is not the usual type of storm. Puerto Rico, the Leeward Islands and the Virgin Islands are going to have to deal with Erika, the tropical storm that is set to hit South Florida by the end of this weekend, according to weather experts’ predictions. What is more worrying is that Erika will grow stronger should it encounter the right conditions.
Erika formed on Monday, on the heels of Hurricane Danny, very close to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Monday was its most powerful moment, reaching 45 miles per hour, but it rapidly fell down as it entered a zone with dry air. Wednesday morning, around 5 A.m. the winds were estimated at a minor 40 miles per hour as Erika continued her march on the west.
Experts believe that Erika will come to be more powerful as it passes through the Caribbean, putting Leeward Islands in great danger either on late Wednesday or early Thursday. The rest of the hurricane’s trajectory remains uncertain due to the fact that trajectory calculators have identified two possible outcomes.
One calculation system believe that the hurricane is going to hit the north with more power, while another calculation indicates that it is heading south with the probability of causing less damage. The storm might lose all its power if it hits the land or if it meets the same dry conditions that prevented Danny from moving forward.
Dennis Feltgen, hurricane center spokesman and meteorologist, explained that “we don’t even have a hurricane until Sunday afternoon” and that more time is required to understand where it is heading and how everything will develop.
Erika happened to arrive exactly when the hurricane season enters its most powerful months. Danny and Erika have both made contact with air that made drought conditions in some areas incredibly bad. Puerto Rico might be lucky, however, because it might receive a rain from Danny’s leftovers which could help the religion exit some of its worst drought conditions ever.
As far as experts can predict, Erika is going to roam across the northeastern region of the Caribbean, following in Danny and hitting the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico starting with Thursday night and during all of Friday.
We will see how the storm evolves in time. As mentioned above, there are two possible outcomes: it either goes north and hits it hard, or it will go south, grow weak, probably meet Hispaniola and collapse into nothingness.
Photo Credits wikimedia.org