Jerry expected to become a hurricane

10th named storm of the season on all-too familiar track

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Atlantic hurricane season's 10th named storm formed earlier this week and is expected to grow into a hurricane Thursday as it nears the outermost Caribbean islands.

The best news concerning Jerry is that forecast models agree on Jerry's future track, turning to the north once it passes the Lesser Antilles and remaining out over the open Atlantic. This means we don't have to worry about a potential impact from Jerry locally.

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At 5 a.m., the center of Tropical Storm Jerry was about 525 miles east of the Leeward Island. Jerry was moving toward the west-northwest near 16 mph. A west-northwest motion at a slightly faster forward speed is expected over the next few days. On the forecast track, the system will pass north of Puerto Rico on Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane.

Maximum sustained winds at dawn Thursday were near 70 mph with higher gusts. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from the center. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1000 mb.

 A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Maarten, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy, Saba and St. Eustatius.

Elsewhere in the tropics, Hurricane Humberto swept by Bermuda as a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 125 mph. Extensive power outages were reported throughout the island nation.

At 5 a.m. Thursday, the NHC dropped all coastal watches and warnings as Humberto moves to the northwest at 22 mph.

In Texas, the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda have drenched drench parts of coastal Texas and southwestern Louisiana with up to 21 inches of rain. It was the first named storm to hit the Houston area since Hurricane Harvey's much heavier rains flooded more than 150,000 homes around the city and caused an estimated $125 billion in damage in Texas.

Other storms are roiling the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico. Kiko has stopped weakening, but is headed away from land. Lorena is a little stronger and Mario is strengthening, as well. Both Lorena and Mario are expected to become hurricanes by Friday as they approach the Mexican coast.