Hurricane Maria
About 40 miles SSE of St. Croix
About 135 miles SE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
Sustained Wind Speed 175 mph
Moving west north west at 10 mph
Central Pressure 909 mb
At 10PM AST, Maria is 60 miles southeast of St. Croix with sustained winds at 175 mph. This extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane is on track to strike two US areas within the next day.
Hurricane force gusts have already reached St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands and the eye of the storm will pass near, or possibly over, the island at around 2 AM. Other islands in the area can expect strong winds and a dangerous surge.
On Wednesday, Maria will reach Puerto Rico. The current track calls for the storm to strike the southeast corner of the island. Every area of Puerto Rico can expect to experience powerful, hurricane force winds. Sustained winds at the time of impact on Puerto Rico can be expected to be at least 165 mph.
On Monday evening, Maria crossed directly over the tiny independent state of Dominica, causing tremendous damage and leaving most homes on the island damaged or destroyed.
“So far we have lost all what money can buy and replace,” Mr. Skerrit said on Facebook. “My greatest fear for the morning is that we will wake to news of serious physical injury and possible deaths as a result of likely landslides triggered by persistent rains.”
Maria also killed at least one person on the island of Guadalupe.
The wind speed of Maria as it strikes St. Croix and Puerto Rico is expected to exceed the speed it sustained when it crossed Dominca. This is a serious, dangerous storm and damage can be expected over a broad area. No one should assume that just because they made it through Irma high and dry, this will be the same experience. It won’t. Both Puerto Rico and St. Croix can expect a storm surge of 6 to 9 feet and some areas will see upwards of 20 inches of rain and associated landslides.
Authorities in the most endangered areas of Puerto Rico have warned residents to evacuate or die.
"If you are in a flood zone, your life is in danger," Rosselló said. "If you are in a wooden house, your life is in danger."
Héctor Pesquera, Puerto Rico's commissioner of public safety, was even more blunt.
"You have to evacuate — otherwise, you are going to die," he said, according to Telemundo, NBC's Spanish-language network. "I do not know how to make this any clearer."
Despite strict rationing of supplies and crowded shelters, Puerto Rico is reported to be united and orderly as the American citizens on the islands hunker down to ride out this monster. As bad as Hurricane Irma was, both Puerto Rico and Florida lucked out when last minute changes took the storm along a less damaging path. Such a miracle appears unlikely with Maria.
After crossing Puerto Rico, Maria is expected to remain a Category 4 storm as it threatens both the Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos. However it is not expect to make landfall in the continental United States.
Hurricane Jose
The season’s most persistent storm is currently about 250 miles east of Nantucket, and has begun it’s expected curl toward the northeast. Over the next four days it’s predicted to wander to the southeast as it slowly dies. Finally.
Those along the Northeast Coast can expected continued rough seas, winds, and rain as Jose runs around out there.
And thankfully, that’s it. There are no more storms to report in the Atlantic, and no more on the immediate horizon—though there’s a very low chance that what’s left of former tropical storm Lee could start to reorganize. It would seem safe enough in most years, but this isn’t most years.
Mexican Earthquake
The powerful 7.1 earthquake that struck southeast of Mexico City on Tuesday afternoon now has an associated death toll of at least 130.
Tuesday’s earthquake struck on the 32nd anniversary of another major disaster: the 1985 quake that killed as many as 10,000 people in Mexico.