Hurricane Maria rapidly intensifies, aims for a rare, devastating direct hit on Puerto Rico
UPDATED 9:15 p.m. ET as Hurricane Maria upgraded to a Category 5 storm.
Islands known for their idyllic beach resorts have been reduced to rubble so far this hurricane season, after Hurricane Irma tore across the northern Leeward Islands and into the Caribbean earlier this month. Now a new storm is menacing the same region: Hurricane Maria.
Hurricane Maria went through an astonishingly quick transformation from a minimal hurricane to a Category 5 monster in less than 24 hours. As of 9 p.m. ET, Maria had maximum sustained winds of 160 miles per hour, and the island of Dominica was right in the path of the worst of the storm's winds.
The National Hurricane Center has warned Maria is now a "potentially catastrophic" storm. This is the only Category 5 storm to strike Dominica on record, and may be among the fastest rates of intensification of any hurricane on record.
Including Harvey and Irma, Hurricane Maria is the third storm seen in quick succession this season to undergo a period of rapid intensification over warm ocean waters and favorable conditions in the atmosphere.
"Maria is developing the dreaded pinhole eye," the National Hurricane Center stated in a forecast discussion, referring to an eye with a diameter of 10 miles or less that is visible on satellite imagery. Such a feature is a telltale sign of an intense hurricane.
Through Tuesday, the storm will affect some of the same islands hit hard by Irma, including Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Kitts, Nevis, Martinique, and Montserrat, for example. The intense inner core of the storm is projected to pass near or over Dominica, raising fears of major damage there.
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Hurricane warnings are up for Puerto Rico, Vieques, and Culebra, as well as the British and U.S. Virgin Islands. The threat to Puerto Rico is particularly grave, considering that the storm may be at or close to Category 5 intensity when it hits the island.
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Many of these areas, such as St. Martin and St. John, suffered severe damage when Category 5 Hurricane Irma struck there in early September. Luckily, the storm appears likely to move far enough to the south of Barbuda to spare that decimated island of its worst effects.
While this storm is weaker than Irma was at its peak, it will still be formidable and capable of producing catastrophic damage. Because of the fragile state of infrastructure in previously hard hit areas, any additional strong winds and heavy rains could be enough to set back cleanup efforts and require additional evacuations.
Unfortunately, many of the people who have evacuated St. Maarten, St. John, and St. Thomas, among other areas, have fled to Puerto Rico. The problem with this is that Hurricane Maria is headed right for that U.S. territory, and is expected to became only the fifth storm since 1851 to hit there as a Category 4 storm or greater on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane intensity scale.
The Hurricane Center is projecting that the storm will be close to Category 5 intensity when it hits Puerto Rico on Wednesday. If it does rank as a Category 5 storm, with sustained winds of greater than 155 miles per hour, it would be only the second such storm to hit that island since 1851.
The last Category 4 storm to strike Puerto Rico was Hurricane Hugo in 1989, whereas the most recent Category 4 storm took place way back in 1932. In addition, the most recent Category 5 hurricane to strike Puerto Rico occurred back in 1928.
The National Weather Service office in San Juan issued a statement on Monday afternoon warning of the massive threat this storm poses to the island. The winds alone could cause locations to be "uninhabitable for weeks or months," the Weather Service stated, in addition to warning of a potentially deadly storm surge along the coast.
Where will the storm go after Puerto Rico?
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Once Hurricane Maria passes over Puerto Rico, it is expected to weaken slightly day-by-day, largely because of less favorable atmospheric conditions that may interfere with its circulation. Computer models still disagree on the path that Maria will take, either through the Bahamas and toward the East Coast of the U.S., or possibly skirting the northern Bahamas, followed by a turn out to sea. The latter track would spare the U.S. a direct hit from a third hurricane this year.
For now, though, the focus is on making sure that the islands about to be hit by this formidable storm are adequately prepared. The forecast appears to be absolutely devastating for Puerto Rico and nearby islands in particularly.
Andrew Freedman is Mashable's Senior Editor for Science and Special Projects. Prior to working at Mashable, Freedman was a Senior Science writer for Climate Central. He has also worked as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly and Greenwire/E&E Daily. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, online at The Weather Channel, and washingtonpost.com, where he wrote a weekly climate science column for the "Capital Weather Gang" blog. He has provided commentary on climate science and policy for Sky News, CBC Radio, NPR, Al Jazeera, Sirius XM Radio, PBS NewsHour, and other national and international outlets. He holds a Masters in Climate and Society from Columbia University, and a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
