Ernesto strengthens to hurricane after hitting Puerto Rico and could turn toward Canada

Ernesto strengthened into a hurricane on Wednesday as it dropped torrential rain on Puerto Rico and left nearly half of all clients in the U.S. territory without power as it threatened to strengthen into a major storm en route to Bermuda.

The storm was located about 280 kilometres northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was moving over open waters. It had maximum sustained winds of 120 km/h and was moving northwest at 26 km/h.

“The official forecast still reflects the possibility of Ernesto becoming a major hurricane in about 48 hours,” the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.

Ernesto is also expected to turn north on a path that could potentially include Atlantic Canada, according to the Weather Network.

“While it’s still far too early to say, some long-range models do suggest that Ernesto could pass near enough to the Canadian East Coast to bring heavy rainfall early to mid-next week,” the Weather Network said in an update Wednesday morning.

CBC meteorologist Tina Simpkin noted this is a very early forecast.

“That track could change, but right now it does take it brushing by, at least, the Nova Scotia coastline and that would put P.E.I. in the track for some high winds and some heavy rains,” said Simpkin.

The Canadian Hurricane Centre currently forecasts Ernesto to be south of Nova Scotia Monday morning.

“The storm will likely pass over Canadian marine waters, but the impact on land remains uncertain at this time,” the centre said Wednesday afternoon on X, formerly Twitter.

Ernesto is forecast to peak as a Category 3 hurricane as it travels north. As it approaches Canada’s East Coast, cooler northern waters will probably reduce Ernesto below hurricane strength. However, it will still likely be a coherent storm if it hits the Maritimes, said Simpkin.

Warning in effect for Puerto Rico

A tropical storm warning was in effect for Puerto Rico and its outlying islands of Vieques and Culebra and for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.

“I know it was a long night listening to that wind howl,” U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. told a news conference.

An island-wide blackout was reported in St. John and St. Croix, and at least six cellphone towers were knocked offline across the U.S. territory, said Daryl Jaschen, emergency management director. He added that the airports in St. Croix and St. Thomas were expected to reopen at midday.

Government agencies, however, remained closed in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, where heavy flooding was reported in several areas, forcing officials to block roads, some of which were strewn with trees. Nearly 100 flights also were cancelled to and from Puerto Rico.

“A lot of rain, a lot of rain,” Culebra Mayor Edilberto Romero said in a phone interview. “We have trees that have fallen on public roads. There are some roofs that are blown off.”

Heavy rain swells forecast for U.S. East Coast

Ernesto is forecast to move through open waters for the rest of the week and make its closest approach to Bermuda on Friday and Saturday. It is expected to become a major Category 3 storm in the upcoming days and then weaken slightly to a Category 2 as it nears Bermuda.

“Residents need to prepare now before conditions worsen,” said Bermuda’s National Security Minister Michael Weeks.”Now is not the time for complacency.”

Forecasters also warned of heavy swells along the U.S. East Coast. “That means that anybody who goes to the beach, even if the weather is beautiful and nice, it could be dangerous … with those rip currents,” said Robbie Berg, warning co-ordination meteorologist with the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

Between 100 and 150 millimetres of rain is expected in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and between 150 to 200 millimetres in Puerto Rico. Isolated areas could see as much as 250 millimetres of rain.

In addition to the island-wide blackout in St. Croix, more than half a million customers were without power in Puerto Rico.

Late on Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency warned people in both U.S. territories to prepare for “extended power outages.”

Ernesto is the fifth named storm of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures. It forecast 17 to 25 named storms, with four to seven major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.