'You Never Like To See Slow Moving Hurricanes', CBS4 Meteorologist Dave Warren On What To Expect
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Hurricane Dorian has strengthened and now has maxim sustained winds of 185 mph.
The storm will move across the Great Abaco Island and then Grand Bahama over the next day as it moves west at 8 mph. In addition, the catastrophic wind speeds the slow movement will allow these conditions to persist for an extended period of time.
"You never like to see slow-moving hurricanes," said CBS4 Meteorologist Dave Warren. "You are already seeing life-threatening conditions with the storm but to have them prolonged over an extended period will make it even more devastating."
The forecast continues this westward motion until Tuesday morning which is when Dorian is expected to slow down considerably and begin a turn to the north.
"Given the recent size and intensity of the storm the exact location will be monitored for any slight adjustments or wobbles the eye may make," said Warren.
He added that just a few miles difference in the storm's location can lead to drastic changes along the coast in terms of wind and rain. Currently, a tropical storm watch is in effect for coastal and metro Broward while a tropical storm warning is in effect for Palm Beach County.
"Tropical storm conditions are likely to develop but may extend farther inland and south should the storm track closer to the coast," said Warren.
As the storm is expected to slow or even briefly stall early Tuesday before turning north, the tropical storm wind speeds may actually expand outward while the intensity drops just a bit.
"The storm can actually churn up cooler water and lower the intensity slightly," said Warren. "This may lead the storm to be not as compact and you can get higher wind speeds expanding outward slightly."
Given this may occur as the storm is just offshore it may lead to tropical-storm-force winds pushing farther inland while the storm itself remains stationary or even begins moving away to the north.
With the storm so close it is important to monitor the storm location and size at this point, said Warren, not the cone.
"Confidence in the forecast one to two days out is much higher than a forecast four to five days out," he said. "The forecast cone is much smaller at this point which means the storm impacts can reach well beyond the boundary of that."
