(ETH) – New Englanders bracing for their first direct hit by a hurricane in 30 years began hauling boats out of the water and taking other precautions Friday as Tropical Storm Henri barreled toward the southern New England coast.
According to KOLN, Henri was expected to intensify into a hurricane by Saturday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Impacts could be felt in New England states by Sunday, including on Cape Cod, which is teeming with tens of thousands of summer tourists.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday urged people vacationing on the Cape to leave well before Henri hits, and those who planned to start vacations there to delay their plans. “We don’t want people to be stuck in traffic on the Cape Cod bridges when the storm is in full force on Sunday,” he said.
“This storm is extremely worrisome,” said Michael Finkelstein, police chief and emergency management director in East Lyme, Connecticut. “We haven’t been down this road in quite a while and there’s no doubt that we and the rest of New England would have some real difficulties with a direct hit from a hurricane.”
According to the Weather Channel, The forecast trend includes more impacts in New England with each successive update from the National Hurricane Center. Henri is located 745 miles south of Montauk Point, New York, or midway between Bermuda and Florida, and is moving northwestward.
Henri has been battling wind shear and dry air. However, wind shear is expected to begin to weaken later Friday and Henri will be tracking across very warm water. This should result in strengthening, possibly into a hurricane.
Henri has turned toward the northwest and is expected to turn toward the north by Friday night. This more northerly track will be influenced by the steering from a ridge of high pressure over the north-central Atlantic and an upper-level disturbance over the eastern U.S.
Accuweather states that this timing should keep Henri from making landfall along the Southeast Atlantic coast. Even still, beaches from Savannah, Georgia, to Jones Beach, New York, can expect some indirect impacts from the storm.
Whether Henri actually ends up making landfall in the United States or not, the combination of the front and Henri may displace some moisture to the north and west of Henri’s center later on Saturday. As that happens, heavy rain may pour down over portions of northern New Jersey, northeastern Pennsylvania, southern New York, and Connecticut.
