Thursday, September 4, 2008 11:00AM EDT - Go, Hanna, Go! A quick update... After meandering over the <http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/tci.shtml> Turks & Caicos over the last couple of days it finally looks like <http://stormcarib.com/adv3.htm> Hanna is inching to the north. It's about time. The large outflow of Hanna has caused enough flooding (again) in <http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/haiti.shtml> Haiti and surrounding areas. Hanna looks a bit better organized on the satellite images and might strengthen again into a hurricane. As Hanna continues its northwestward trajectory, hurricanes watches have been posted to some coastal areas in South Carolina and North Carolina. Tropical storm watches remain in effect from Edisto Beach South Carolina southward to Altamaha Sound Georgia. Hanna is moving toward the northwest near 12 mph...19 km/hr...and this motion is expected to continue during the next day or so with a gradual increase in forward speed. A turn to the north is expected by late Friday. On the forecast track...the center of Hanna will pass just east of the central and northwestern Bahamas today...and will be near the southeast coast of the United States by late Friday. However...rains and winds associated with Hanna will reach the coast well in advance of the center. Thursday, September 4, 2008 11:00 AM EDT - We don't like Ike Look at Ike! A little blob with an eye! It was upgraded to a <http://stormcarib.com/guide.htm#saffir> Category 4 hurricane yesterday with sustained winds of near 140mph! It is expected to travel a bit north-west and then make a dive towards the south aiming as it looks right now for the <http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/tci.shtml> Turks and Caicos and <http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/bahamas.shtml> the Bahamas. Yes, the same group of islands we have talked about all week regarding Hanna! There are a couple big differences, Hanna didn't move, Ike will move through quickly, Hanna was 'just' a tropical storm/minimal hurricane, Ike will be 'the big one'! Also, Hanna affected a large area with its outflow, causing widespread flooding, Ike is smaller in size and will affect a smaller area. In any case, Ike is going to be very dangerous. Ike is moving toward the west-northwest near 16 mph...26 km/hr. A gradual turn toward the west and west-southwest is expected over the next 48 hours. On this track the hurricane will continue to move over the open waters of the west-central Atlantic during the next couple of days. It is too early to determine what land areas might eventually be affected by Ike but interests in the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands should monitor the progress of this system. Maximum sustained winds are near 140 mph...220 km/hr...with higher gusts. Ike is an extremely dangerous category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. Some weakening is forecast during the next day or so but Ike is expected to remain a powerful hurricane for the next several days. Thursday, September 4, 2008 11:00 AM EDT - Forget about Josephine...Let's get through Hanna and Ike first... ...Josephine weakens a little... at 1100 am AST...1500z...the center of Tropical Storm Josephine was located near latitude 14.5 north...longitude 32.2 west or about 520 miles...840 km...west of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands. Josephine is moving toward the west-northwest near 10 mph...17 km/hr ...And this motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days. Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph...85 km/hr...with higher gusts. Upper-level winds are currently not favorable for significant strengthening...and little change in strength is forecast during the next couple of days.