ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tropical Storm Ernesto formed Monday afternoon in the Atlantic as it continues its track toward the Leeward Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center.
It is expected to bring heavy rains and strong winds to the Caribbean islands beginning late Monday night.
As of NHC's latest advisory, Tropical Storm Ernesto is located about 165 miles east-southeast of Antigua. Forecasters say it has maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour and is heading west at 25 miles per hour.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for:
- St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Antigua, Barbuda, and Anguilla
- Guadeloupe
- St. Martin and St. Barthelemy
- Sint Maarten
- British Virgin Islands
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Puerto Rico
- Vieques
- Culebra
A tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere in the warning area within 36 hours.
This system comes in the wake of Tropical Storm Debby, which continues to bring the threat of storm surge, flooding and tropical storm-force winds to portions of the North Carolina coast.
NOAA forecasters updated their 2024 Hurricane season outlook, keeping an above-normal outlook for the remainder of the season, predicting the following activity:
- 17-24 named storms (average is 14)
- 8-13 hurricanes (average is 7)
- 4-7 major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher) (average is 3)