Jamaica, Caymans issue hurricane watch for Ernesto
Pastor Dale Morgan
Jamaica, Caymans issue hurricane watch for Ernesto*
Saturday, August 26, 2006; Posted: 11:47 a.m. EDT (15:47 GMT)
(CNN) -- Jamaica and the Cayman Islands were under hurricane watches
Saturday as Tropical Storm Ernesto picked up power in the Caribbean.
Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Ernesto could
reach hurricane status by Monday, churning out winds of 74 mph or higher
as it nears Jamaica.
Cuba, Mexico's northeastern Yucatan Peninsula and the southeastern Gulf
of Mexico were urged to monitor the storm.
Traveling at about 14 mph (22 kph) toward the west-northwest, Ernesto
was expected to pass south of Hispaniola -- the island split into Haiti
and the Dominican Republic -- on Saturday, and close in on Jamaica on
Sunday.
A five-day prediction has Ernesto crossing western Cuba and entering the
Gulf of Mexico by Tuesday, but long-range predictions aren't always
reliable because hurricanes can change course quickly.
If Ernesto reaches hurricane strength, it would be the first hurricane
so far this season.
By this time last year, five hurricanes and 11 named storms had already
formed -- and Hurricane Katrina was just days away from devastating New
Orleans and the Gulf Coast on August 29. (Watch Gulf Coast residents say
what they'd do if Ernesto hit -- 2:37)
On Saturday, Ernesto was moving in Caribbean waters between Puerto Rico
and Venezuela, with maximum sustained winds near 50 mph (85 kph) with
higher gusts, the National Hurricane Center said.
Tropical storm force winds were extending up to 115 miles (185
kilometers) from the center, the hurricane center said in its 11 a.m.
advisory.
Jamaica is expected to receive 4 to 8 inches of rain, maybe even a foot
in some areas.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic are expected to receive 3 to 6 inches
of rain, with 8 inches possible in some parts.
The outer bands of Ernesto may produce 1 to 3 inches of rainfall across
Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the National Hurricane Center said.
A tropical storm warning has been issued for the south coast of
Hispaniola from the Haiti-Dominican border westward to the southwestern
tip of Haiti. Under such a warning, tropical storm conditions are
expected in the area within the next 24 hours.
At 11 a.m. Saturday, the center of the storm was 250 miles
south-southwest of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and 420 miles
east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, according to the hurricane center.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Debby weakened into a tropical storm
depression, as it moved farther into open waters of the eastern Atlantic
Saturday.
At 11 a.m., Debby's center was 1,465 miles west-southwest of the Azores,
with maximum sustained winds of about 30 mph, according to the hurricane
center. The storm was moving west-northwest at nearly 8 mph and was
forecast to make a turn to the northwest and head into the North Atlantic.