On Sunday night, Ernesto was strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane, and the National Hurricane Center issued a warning about hazardous conditions for beaches along the East Coast.
With maximum sustained winds of up to 75 mph, the hurricane is currently over the Atlantic and has caused significant power disruptions and floods in Puerto Rico and Bermuda during the previous week.
Ernesto is predicted by the NHC to move across southeast Newfoundland late on Monday and early on Tuesday.
This year’s Atlantic season has seen three hurricanes and five named storms, including Ernesto. Early on Saturday, it made landfall in Bermuda, drenching areas of the island with seven to nine inches of rain. Ernesto is currently located about 200 miles northeast of Bermuda, and the British Overseas Territory was spared severe damage.
High surf and life-threatening rip currents are still anticipated over the next couple of days along the U.S. East Coast.
The entire Atlantic coast from Florida to Maine is under a high-risk rip current alert on Sunday.
“Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions are likely,” the National Hurricane Center warned, “which means life-threatening rip currents are likely, and dangerous for all levels of swimmers.”
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