Hurricane Maria rocks Puerto Rico as island's strongest storm in modern history
UPDATE: Sept. 20, 2017, 5:10 p.m. EDT Hurricane Maria is now considered a Category 2 storm with 110 miles per hour sustained winds, according to a 5 p.m. ET update from the National Hurricane Center. The storm's center is now 25 miles north-northwest of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Maria is expected to strengthen to major hurricane status on Thursday.
Hurricane Maria, one of the 10 most intense storms on record in the Atlantic Ocean basin, roared ashore in southeastern Puerto Rico, near Yabucoa, at 6:15 a.m. ET.
It hit the island as a powerful Category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, down somewhat from its peak of 175 miles per hour on Tuesday night.
Hurricane Maria is one of the worst storms to hit Puerto Rico in modern history.
This is the most intense storm to make landfall in Puerto Rico since at least the San Ciprian Hurricane of 1932, which was also a Category 4. The storm is likely to inflict its greatest damage to the communities along its southeastern shore, including Yabucoa, where inundation of 6 to 9 feet above normally dry ground is likely from the combination of storm surge flooding and high, battering waves.
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Almost the entire island experienced hurricane-force, and many structures on the island sustained damage. Flash flood emergencies were hoisted for many parts of Puerto Rico, and according to reports from local agencies and media, the entire island is without power.
Hurricane Maria is the third Category 4 storm to hit the U.S. or a U.S. territory in a month. This is unprecedented in modern record-keeping.
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San Juan, a city of nearly 400,000, was experiencing winds of 115 miles per hour or greater on Wednesday morning as the northern part of the storm's eyewall, where its most intense winds and some of its heaviest rains are located.
In addition, the island of Vieques, just east of Puerto Rico, lies in the path of some of the storm's strongest winds. That area is a popular resort destination.
Hurricane Maria knocked out the Doppler radar located at San Juan's international airport, forcing forecasters to rely more on satellite observations to follow the storm's trek across the island, from the southeast to the northwest.
The Hurricane Center has warned that winds of greater than 155 miles per hour could affect higher elevations and tall buildings along the storm's path, particularly south-facing slopes. In addition, heavy rains of up to 2 feet are another major threat, given the potential to cause mudslides.
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Before hitting Puerto Rico, the storm slammed St. Croix, which is part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Early Wednesday morning, the Hurricane Center reported sustained winds of 106 miles per hour and gusts to 137 miles per hour on that island. Preliminary reports indicated the island missed the storm's most catastrophic winds of 175 miles per hour or greater by just 10 to 12 miles.
St. Croix escaped major damage from Hurricane Irma, and had been used as a staging ground for aid to harder-hit areas, such as St. Thomas and St. John, so significant damage there could impede the continued flow of aid.
The storm maxed out at an extraordinarily intense Category 5 storm on Tuesday evening, with a minimum central pressure of 909 millibars and 175-mile-per-hour winds. The air pressure reading placed the storm as the 10th-most intense hurricane on record in the Atlantic basin. In general, the lower the air pressure is, the stronger the storm.
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The reason for the slight weakening prior to landfall was what's known as an eyewall replacement cycle, during which the storm's wind field weakened but spread out across a larger area. The cycle is complete, with the formation of a new eyewall, just before landfall, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The forecast for the rest of Wednesday calls for a harrowing day on Puerto Rico, with storm surge flooding, life-threatening rains, and winds capable of inflicting extreme damage across the island. It's possible that hurricane force winds will last the entire day in parts of Puerto Rico, before the storm exits -- likely in a weakened state -- and heads toward the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas.
Hurricane warnings are in effect for those areas now. While the long-term forecast for Hurricane Maria is uncertain, most computer models project the storm will curve out to sea without making landfall along the east coast of the U.S.
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.
