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Hurricane Fiona, which left devastating damage in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, is bringing stormy conditions to the Turks and Caicos Tuesday morning as a Category 3 storm. Forecasters are also monitoring two other systems in the Atlantic that could turn into tropical depressions this week.
Here’s what to know:
By reaching Cat 3 level strength, Fiona has become the first major hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season.
The hurricane was about 10 miles northwest of Grand Turk with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph with higher gusts, according to the National Hurricane Center’s Tuesday morning advisory.
The storm is bringing rain and hurricane-force winds to the Turks and Caicos, with tropical storm conditions expected in portions of the southeastern Bahamas in the next few hours, according to the hurricane center.
Fiona is forecast to pass near Grand Turk and the other eastern Turks and Caicos islands during the next few hours, with a turn to the north expected Tuesday night or Wednesday. Forecasters think Fiona will strengthen into a Category 4 storm by early Wednesday as it moves through the Atlantic’s waters.
Turks and Caicos are under a hurricane warning and a tropical storm warning is in effect for the southeastern Bahamas. Forecasters say Bermuda should continue to monitor the system.
What about the other two systems?
As for the other two systems, one of the disturbances is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms several hundred miles east of the Windward Islands Tuesday morning.
“Gradual development of this system is forecast during the next several days as the system approaches the Windward Islands, and a tropical depression could form by the latter part of this week as the system moves into the eastern and central Caribbean sea,” the hurricane center said.
Forecasters say the system, which is quickly moving west through the Atlantic, has a low 10% chance of formation through the next 48 hours and a medium 50% chance of formation through the next five days.
The other disturbance is producing showers and thunderstorms over the central Atlantic, far from land. Forecasters say the system, which is about 950 miles west-southwest of the westernmost Azores, will likely turn into a tropical depression within the next day or so as it moves north or northeast through the Atlantic’s open waters.
Forecasters are giving it a high 80% chance of formation through the next two to five days. However, the hurricane center also notes that the system is expected to face upper-level winds later this week that could make formation more difficult.
