Hurricane Imelda has been strengthening and is now a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph sustained winds. It has started to make the turn to more to the east and the storm will continue moving away from Florida and the SE.

Bermuda is under a Hurricane Warning as the storm is moving northeast in the direction of the island. Imelda is forecast to strengthen into a Category 2 storm as it passes the island Wednesday – Thursday.

Imelda will make the closest pass that any storm has made this season with hurricane-force-winds, large waves and heavy rain starting Wednesday.

A landfall is not out of the question but impacts will be felt across Bermuda either way. Imelda’s core passing to the north would put the island on the dirty side of the storm and bring the worst of the weather.

Hurricane Humberto, a stronger storm a few hundred miles to its east, is altering the steering and tugging Imelda out to sea.

Humberto is west of Bermuda and is going to pass well north of the island with impacts limited to rough surf and marine conditions.

Imelda and Humberto are currently the only active named storms in the Atlantic.

Tropical Storm Imelda is still expected to strengthen into a hurricane by early next week.

Weather models indicate with high confidence that it will stay well off the east coast of our state. As a result, tropical storm watches for Florida’s east coast were dropped this evening. Tropical storm warnings still remain in effect for parts of the Bahamas.

Rip currents and dangerous boating conditions are expected across the coasts of Florida, Georgia, and North/South Carolina.

The majority of the damaging winds and excessive rainfall from Imelda should remain off the shoreline.

Major Hurricane Humberto poses no threat to the United States, but has prompted a tropical storm watch for Bermuda. The hurricane should slowly weaken over the next few days. The latest forecast for Humberto has it becoming a post-tropical system by the middle of next week.