Danielle Weakens; 90% Chance of Another Tropical Storm

The latest bulletin, issued at 5:00 a.m. AST by the National Hurricane Center in Miami, notes that Hurricane Danielle has weakened slightly, with “maximum sustained winds near 85 mph, 140 km/hr. with higher gusts.”

The storm is presently a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. However the NHC also warned that “additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 30 miles, 45 kms from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 140 miles, 220 kms.”

The hurricane’s center is still well out in the Atlantic. The NHC said Danielle is “moving toward the west-northwest near 17 mph, 28 km/hr. A turn toward the northwest with a decrease in forward speed is expected during the next couple of days.”

The NHC continues to track a “broad area of low pressure” south of the Cape Verde Islands. Reporting on this system, the NHC said: “Although there has been little change in the organization of the associated shower activity over the past few hours, environmental conditions remain conducive for the formation of a tropical depression during the next couple of days. There is a high chance – 90 percent – of this system becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours as it moves west-northwestward near 15 mph.”

Source: National Hurricane Center