3:00pm Hurricane Earl has been pounding the eastern Caribbean with hurricane force winds and torrential rains. As of 3:00pm the National Hurricane Center tracked the center of Hurricane Earl just north of the British Virgin Islands. The storm is moving towards the west north west with a forward speed of 15 miles per hour. Maximum sustained winds have been recorded at 125 miles per hour making this a major Hurricane at Category 3. Minimum central pressure at the core of the storm has been recorded at 955 millibars and dropping, this persistent drop in central pressure indicates that Earl is strengthening. The current forecast suggests Hurricane Earl will continue to intensify through Wednesday into a powerful Category 4 storm. The exact track of Hurricane Earl is still uncertain; at this time NCEP forecast models are predicting that the Hurricane will track away from the coast. However the system is still days away from the eastern seaboard and a slight variation in the track could potentially bring a major Hurricane on shore this by the end of this week from the outer banks of North Carolina north to Cape Cod including Long Island, the Jersey Shore and the Delmarva Peninsula. Even if Hurricane Earl stays well away from the coast, it will still be close enough to produce significant beach erosion, very high swells and dangerous rip currents.
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