Major Shift in Hurricane Ikes Track

The National Hurricane Center released the latest track at 11 p.m. for Hurricane Ike which has started to shift more toward the south keeping it away from the Florida coast.

Ike, which is currently a Category 3 storm with winds around 115 mph is no longer headed for the East coast but has its eyes on Cuba. 

Early next week Ike’s outer bands will begin to affect the Bahamas and Caribbean Islands.

Southeast Braces for Hanna and fears mount as Hurricane Ike Looms near.

Today Floridians kept a close eye on Tropical Storm Hanna as it moved north about 150 miles off shore.  Hurricane Ike, not too far behind, is threatening the Caribbean as it heads toward the gulf as a weaker Category 3 storm.

After leaving Haiti with 136 people dead and almost 200,000 homeless, Hanna is expected to strengthen into a weak Category 1 storm as it heads toward the North and South Carolina borders. Evacuations are in place for 1,000 miles of coastline from Georgia to Massachusetts. Virginia and the Carolina’s have declared a state of emergency.

Hurricane Ike weakened to a Category 3 storm today. It is 430 miles north-northwest of the Leeward Islands of Caribbean, and is headed right towards the Bahamas and the southern tip of Florida. 

Forecast at the National Weather Center predict that Ike will begin to weaken slightly, but is still expected to be a major hurricane as it heads towards the Gulf.  

Florida remains on caution as Ike nears which prompted Governor Charlie Christ to take immediate action. “It’s a lot coming at us, but we must remain vigilant, focused and calm,” said Governor Christ.

Both storms remain to keep the southern U.S. coast on alert during this busy hurricane season.

For the Hurriane Ike forcast with more info on the projected path or more hurricane advisories please visit the National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Ike Projected Path

Hurricane Ike’s projected path will continue to push it through the warm deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean as it continues northwestern trek at about 17 mph. 

Although the path of hurricanes are extremely difficult to predict more than 5-7 days out, Hurricane Ike is expected to pass directly over the Bahamas on late Tuesday as it heads toward the southern coasts of Florida.

Unlike the larger islands of Haiti and Cuba, the Bahamas are too small to impact the intensity of Ike as it moves over them toward the east coast. This means that the storm will contiune on undiminished as a Category 4 or even Category 5 storm, the highest level of a storm on the Saffir-Simpson Scale of hurricane strength.

Hurricane Ike is expected to be between a Category 2 and 3 storm as it come ashore next week with winds in excess of 111 mph.

Hurricane Ike projected path as of 11:00 PM EDT on September 3, 2008. This information is provided by the National Hurricane Center on Hurricane Ike Advisory # 12

Dangerous Hurricane Ike Churns Violently in the Atlantic

Hurricane Ike was upgraded to a dangerous category 4 storm today. With maximum sustaining winds at 135mpg, Ike, is the fourth fastest growing hurricane ever recorded. Earlier wednesday, Ike became a Category 3 storm and the third major hurricane of this Atlantic season.

The storms center was located roughly about 620 miles northwest of the Leeward islands and is moving west-northwest at about 17 mph.

Forcasters at the National Hurrican Center in Miami say that the dangerous Hurricane is expected to continue on its current path until Thursday – then it is expected to take more of a westerly turn – headed straight toward the Florida peninsula.

The storm is headed on a path following Tropical Storm Hanna – which is expected to strenghen into a Hurricane – and could be the second of three storms headed toward the southeastern coast of the U.S. within 2 weeks. 

Florida residents brace themselves for Ikes’ impact by early next week which could threaten already flooded areas that were saturated by the rains Tropical Storm Fay – less than two weeks ago – and rapidly approaching Tropical Storm Hanna. 

Ike is expected to be a Category 2 storm as it approaches the southeasther coast. Tropical Storm Josephine is following behind Ike.

Hurricane Ike projected path.