Labor Day beach-goers headed for the Atlantic beaches should steel themselves for high winds and rip currents as powerful Hurricane Earl threatens to cut a swath up the Eastern Seaboard.
Earl was a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 135 mph on Tuesday evening — and is forecast to be of similar strength and off the Delmarva coast on Friday morning, said Robbie Berg, a hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center.
Earl’s impact along the coast is going to depend on how far west the storm tracks, but there is the possibility of heavy rain and tropical storm-force winds going into Thursday night and Friday morning in that area, he said.
“I would advise that people keep watching the forecast,” he said.
If the storm follows that path, the Maryland coast will be hit with high winds, strong waves and riptides at the very least — even stronger than those seen over the past several days, according to the Maryland Emergency Management Agency.
Last weekend, about 250 swimmers in Ocean City had to be rescued by lifeguards because of strong rip currents caused by Hurricane Danielle, which passed several hundred miles farther east than the projected path of Earl, the agency said. One swimmer at Ocean City is missing and presumed drowned.
“We’re certainly monitoring the storm, and maintaining contact with the National Weather Service a couple times a day,” said Donna Abbott, a spokeswoman for the town of Ocean City.
If Earl moves father west than its predicted path, Maryland could see more serious effects from the storm, including a storm surge along the Atlantic Ocean, coastal bays and Chesapeake coastal areas, as well as strong winds and rain, the agency said.
The weather could put a damper on Washington-area residents’ plans for sand, surf and sun on the end-of-summer holiday. AAA Mid-Atlantic predicts that 790,000 people from the D.C. region will travel 50 miles or more this three-day weekend.
“One way or the other, the weather forecast could have a direct impact on the travel forecast,” said AAA spokesman John Townsend. The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for part of the North Carolina coast on Tuesday.
“It’s obviously a big storm, so I think folks are watching it carefully,” said Lee Nettles, managing director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau in North Carolina. “But it’s still kind of early, too — there’s still a lot of room on the projected path.”
