Hurricane Humberto turns away from Jacksonville, leaves rip currents and high surf
Time for a growth spurt and a turn away from Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Humberto is likely to continue intensifying during the next day or so while it moves over the warm waters of the Gulf stream, the National Hurricane Center reported in its 5 p.m advisory.
The category 1 storm is moving away from Jacksonville's coast at 7 mph with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph. The first coast will see a high risk of rip current and high surf through Tuesday as Humberto moves off the Atlantic coastline.
Your 5 AM (9/16) Tropical Update - Hurricane #Humberto will continue to move NE away from the area.
— NWS Jacksonville (@NWSJacksonville) September 16, 2019
Impacts along the coast/offshore:
🏖 High risk of rip currents + high surf
🌊 Small craft advisory
🌅 Water levels along St. Johns River ~1-1.5 ft above norm tide
🌬 Breezy winds pic.twitter.com/TjHbXGj4RW
Humberto is looking like a prime teenager ready to become an adult. It is getting stronger feeding off warm water and reduced shear and it shows in its satellite appearance looking more like a hurricane.
Further strengthening is expected during the next few days. Humberto is forecast to reach major hurricane strength early Wednesday.
A shift east away from Florida Monday will drag in dry air. It is expected to strengthen to a Category 2 by Tuesday and keep large waves along the Northeast Florida coast all week.
Forecasters expect the storm to stay offshore of Florida's eastern coast, so a tropical storm watch is no longer in effect for the state.
Copyright 2019 by WJXT News4Jax. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.