Bahamas News
BAHAMAS: ALERT #38 ON HURRICANE DORIAN ISSUED BY THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY MONDAY, 2ND SEPTEMBER 2019.
#Nassau, September 2, 2019 – Bahamas – …GRAND BAHAMA CONTINUES TO EXPERIENCE CATASTROPHIC WINDS AND STORM SURGES AS DORIAN SLOWLY DRIFTS WESTWARD…
…MEANWHILE, OUTER BANDS FROM DORIAN CONTINUE CAUSING WIDESPREAD FLOODING IN MANY OF THE ISLANDS OF THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS…
A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS WHICH INCLUDES: ABACO, GRAND BAHAMA, BIMINI, AND THE BERRY ISLANDS.
A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE BEING EXPERIENCED OR COULD BE EXPERIENCED IN THE MENTIONED ISLANDS WITHIN 36 HOURS.
AT 11AM EDT ON MONDAY, 2ND SEPTEMBER, EYE OF HURRICANE DORIAN WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 26.8 DEGREES NORTH AND LONGITUDE 78.3 DEGREES WEST. THIS POSITION PUTS THE EYE OF DORIAN 30 MILES NORTHEAST OF FREEPORT, GRAND BAHAMA, OR 108 MILES NORTHEAST OF BIMINI AND 136 MILES NORTH-NORTHWEST OF NEW PROVIDENCE.
HURRICANE DORIAN IS STILL SLOWLY DRIFTING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 1 MPH. A SLOW WESTWARD TO WEST-NORTHWESTWARD MOTION IS FORECASTED DURING THE NEXT DAY OR SO, FOLLOWED BY A GRADUAL TURN TOWARD THE NORTHWEST AND NORTH. ON THIS TRACK, THE CORE OF EXTREMELY DANGEROUS DORIAN WILL CONTINUE TO POUND GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND THROUGH MUCH OF TODAY AND TONIGHT.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE DECREASED TO NEAR 155 MILES PER HOUR WITH HIGHER GUSTS. DORIAN IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE WIND SCALE. ALTHOUGH GRADUAL WEAKENING IS FORECAST, DORIAN IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN A POWERFUL HURRICANE DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 45 MILES FROM THE CENTER AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 140 MILES FROM THE CENTER.
THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY’S DOPPLER WEATHER RADARS IN NEW PROVIDENCE AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT HURRICANE MODELS INDICATE THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE IN GRAND BAHAMA THROUGH TODAY AND TONIGHT AND IS SUBSIDING IN THE ABACOS. RESIDENTS IN BIMINI AND THE BERRY ISLANDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE IMPACTED BY TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS TODAY.
THE EYE OF DORIAN IS NOW OVER THE NORTH COAST CENTRAL GRAND BAHAMA AND CONTINUES TO MOVE WESTWARD. RESIDENTS IN THIS AREA SHOULD NOT BE DECEIVED BY THE LULL IN THE WINDS AS THE EYE PASSES BUT REMAIN INDOORS AND PREPARE FOR THE SECOND PHASE OF THE HURRICANE.
SINCE DORIAN IS SLOW-MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS, A LIFE THREATENING STORM SURGE WILL RAISE WATER LEVELS BY AS MUCH AS 18 TO 23 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS ALONG THE EASTERN, NORTHERN AND WESTERN SHORES OF ABACO AND THENORTHERN AND SOUTHERN SHORES OF GRAND BAHAMA THROUGH TUESDAY.
DORIAN IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE 12 TO 24 INCHES ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS UP TO 30 INCHES; IN THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES WILL OCCUR WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS TO 6 INCHES. FLOODING CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN SEVERAL AREAS ON THE ISLANDS OF NEW PROVIDENCE, ELEUTHERA, ANDROS, EXUMA, CAT ISLAND, AND LONG ISLAND.
MARINERS ARE ADVISED TO REMAIN IN PORT AS LARGE TO DANGEROUS SWELLS ARE LIKELY.
THE NEXT ALERT ON HURRICANE DORIAN WILL BE ISSUED AT 3PM EDT MONDAY, 2ND SEPTEMBER 2019.
PREPARED BY: JEFFREY SIMMONS