Tropical Storm FRed materialized this evening just south of Puerto Rico, with heavy rains and gusty winds expected to spread across the island tonight and over Hispanola on Wednesday.
The National Hurricane Center’s 11:00 p.m. EDT update placed the storm about 45 miles (70 kilometers) south-southwest of Ponce, Puerto Rico, moving to the west at 17 mph (28 kph). Fred now has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) with higher gusts.
Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from Fred’s center. A wind gust to 41 mph was measured by a Weatherflow observing site in Las Mareas along the south-central coast of Puerto Rico late Tuesday, the hurricane center said.
Fred could strengthen slightly overnight before it moves close to the Dominican Republic. The higher terrain there could help disrupt the storm and keep it from strengthening more.
On the forecast track, there will be a turnback to a west-northwestward motion Wednesday and this track is expected to last for several days.
The long-range forecast takes Fred across the Florida Keys, into the Gulf of Mexico and close to the Florida peninsula over the weekend. This would be very similar to the track of Elsa, which stayed close to Florida’s west coast and made landfall in the Big Bend region in early July.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for Puerto Rico, including Culebra and Viques; the U.S. Virgin Islands; and the Dominican Republic on the south coast from Punta Palenque eastward and on the north coast from Cabo Frances Viejo eastward.
