Larry Remains Category 3 Hurricane in the Atlantic; Forecasters Watch Tropical Depression

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tuesday that Hurricane Larry remains a large, powerful Category 3 storm that could threaten Bermuda later in the week.

In its latest report, the hurricane center said Larry is still 1,340 kilometers southeast of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of about 195 km/h and is moving toward the northwest. It is a large storm, with hurricane force winds extending outward up to 110 kms from the center, and tropical storm winds extending outward up to 295 kms.

Larry is forecast to approach Bermuda during the next couple of days as a large and powerful hurricane, bringing a risk of strong winds, heavy rainfall and coastal flooding to the island by Thursday. 

Significant swells from Larry should reach the U.S. east coast and Canada’s Atlantic coast by midweek and continue affecting those shores through the end of the week.  The swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

A U.S. Air Force hurricane hunter aircraft was scheduled to fly into Larry’s well-formed eye early Tuesday, and the forecasters are waiting for that data before solidifying their long-range forecast.

Meanwhile, forecasters are watching a tropical system of disorganized thunderstorms in the south-central Gulf of Mexico that is expected to move to the northeast toward the southeastern United States in the next 48 hours. The forecasters say there is a 30% chance of an organized storm forming in the next five days.

Hurricane Ida, which came ashore August 29 in Louisiana as one of the most powerful storms in U.S. history, went from a tropical depression to a Category 3 hurricane in just over two days. The remnants of Ida killed more than 50 people when it moved through the northeastern U.S. last week.