‘Perplexing’ Tropical Storm Karen likely to make hard left, could threaten Carolinas
Tropical Storm Karen is now predicted to make hard left near Bermuda toward the southeastern United States early next week.
However, National Hurricane Center experts are “perplexed” as to whether the storm’s 40 mph sustained winds will continue to increase in coming days or dissipate as it churns toward central Florida and possibly the Carolinas.
Karen “is barely a tropical storm” as it moves north toward Bermuda at 8 mph, forecasters say. It was 350 miles southeast of Bermuda Friday morning.
Some regional models show “no strengthening for the next 4 days, followed by weakening and even dissipation,” according to a Wednesday morning update from the National Hurricane Center.
However, a different set of global forecast models “show slow but steady strengthening during the forecast period with Karen becoming a hurricane” by about five days.
So which is it?
Experts are now splitting the difference and forecasting something in between the two models, while warning Tropical Storm Karen is near conditions that favor strengthening.
The only certainties as of Wednesday are that “Karen will continue to produce rainfall causing flash floods and mudslides across Puerto Rico, Vieques and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands today even as the center moves away from the region,” the National Hurricane Center said.
Tropical storm force winds are currently being felt 70 miles out from the center of the storm, and isolated areas on surrounding islands are being hit with as much as 8 inches of rain, officials say.
The Carolinas might want to be concerned about the potential high winds and storm surge, even if Karen stays miles offshore.
Coastal residents in North Carolina continue to recover from the devastating impact of Hurricane Dorian earlier this month. Storm surge and high winds from Dorian flooded some islands along the Outer Banks, creating dozens of new inlets at Cape Lookout.
This story was originally published September 25, 2019 at 7:53 AM.