There’s another hurricane brewing in the Atlantic. While citizens from Florida faced off against the destructive force of Hurricane Matthew this Friday morning, a different storm came to light: a Category 2 hurricane by the name of Nicole is building momentum in the Caribbean. What was once a mere tropical storm has upgraded to something far worse, as yesterday afternoon Nicole graduated to hurricane status.
Update: October 13, 2016; 7:33 p.m. (EDT) Nicole advanced into a Category 3 hurricane and struck Bermuda on Thursday. She was even as strong as a Category 4 hurricane late Wednesday evening. This was the strongest hurricane strike on Bermuda since Hurricane Fabien swept this archipelago in 2003. By mid-day, the eye of the hurricane hung over Bermuda. In Pearl Island, winds reached 75 mph while gusts of wind reaching up to 119 mph swept through L.F. Wade International Airport. This evening, the storm looks northeastward, slowing down in intensity, and has since moved away from what should be a tropical paradise. However, heavy rain is sure to continue falling upon Bermuda causing damaging surge flood all night with tropical storm force winds. A tropical storm warning is currently in effect in Bermuda. Nicole has since fallen back towards being a Category 2 level hurricane.
Update: October 10, 2016; 7:50 p.m (EDT) Nicole fell back to tropical storm level, but she may return to hurricane status potentially by tomorrow. She is also setting her sight towards Bermuda. AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottowski says, “Nicole could be a 100-mph hurricane on Thursday when it passes close to or right over Bermuda.”
This can cause any weather-beaten Floridan (and any Bermudian when they read the update) to not say “TGIF” today, but go “WTF” when they learn of a new hurricane just 800 miles away in the midst of the Atlantic. So far, winds have reached 105 mph at its peak, comparable to Hurricane Matthew, a higher category hurricane, with winds reaching up to 120 mph.
Hurricane Nicole Path
You may ask, well how dangerous are Category 2 hurricanes? According to the National Hurricane Center, don’t expect the apocalypse, it isn’t exactly “devastating,” but it can still be “extremely dangerous.” And according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, a Category 2 hurricane can cause “well-constructed frame homes (to) sustain major roof and siding damage. Many shallowly rooted trees will be snapped or uprooted and block numerous roads. Near-total power loss is expected with outages that could last from several days to weeks.”
So it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious or prepared even though Hurricane Nicole isn’t expected to reach the main land. It’s better to be safe than sorry, as I’m sure you’ve heard again and again.
But meteorologists are still very concerned of the consequences, such as: what if the weaker Hurricane Nicole gets sucked up by the stronger Hurricane Matthew? This will give rise to a super-storm similar to the one in 2005 when Hurricane Wilma ate and absorbed Tropical Storm Alpha in southern Florida. This hellish force is known as “The Fujiwara Effect,” in which hurricanes who apart by 900 miles or less collide and become a mega power of destruction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvaYN7ElTl0
Hurricane Nicole Forecast
It seems just as the news of one hurricane dies down, another one appears. Can the citizens of Florida win? Well, the effects of Hurricane Matthew wasn’t as devastating as it could have been; this natural aggressor turned east and didn’t severely strike any significantly populated locations. And when morning first came today, at 5 a.m., the citizens of Palm Beach County, Florida must have been happy to find out that hurricane warnings had been lifted.
Hurricane Nicole isn’t expected to hit the mainland on the eastern coast of the United States, unlike Matthew, who asserted his way onto the coastline. But either way, history has been made. “This is the first time since September 10, 1964, that two Category 2 (or stronger) hurricanes have occurred simultaneously in the Atlantic basin west of 65W,” noted the National Hurricane Center. “Interestingly, those hurricanes in 1964, Dora and Ethel, were in similar positions as Matthew and Nicole are now.”
It appears as if “hurricane season” is in full swing. Each hurricane is rocking the sea, Matthew created waves up to 32 feet high, while Nicole has been creating 20-foot-tall waves in the Caribbean Sea. Unlike Matthew, Nicole doesn’t appear to have the urge to create havoc on the mainland. But it is important to remain informed when facing any hurricane.
Update: October 14, 2016; 5:00 p.m. (EDT)
Tracking Hurricane Nicole
Location: 36.5N, 55.7W
Movement: Nicole is flowing northeastward at 20 mph
Wind: 75 mph
Pressure: 971 MB
Update: October 13, 2016; 11:00 p.m. (EDT)
Location: 34.4N, 61.2W
Movement: The hurricane is traveling northeast at 21 mph
Wind: 100 mph
Pressure: 967 MB
Update: October 9, 2016; 11:00 a.m. (EDT)
Location: 24.0, 65.4W
Movement: Nicole is “nearly stationary” at 0 mph
Wind: 60 mph
Pressure: 996 MB
Update: October 8, 2016; 11:00 p.m. (EDT)
Location: 24.2N, 65.7W
Movement: The hurricane is traveling south at 5 mph
Wind: 50 mph
Pressure: 999 MB
