Jerry is now a hurricane, making it the fourth of the 2019 season. And chances are increasing that it will not be a threat to the United States.
Hurricane Jerry has become significantly better organized over the past 24 hours, according to an update from the National Hurricane Center at 11 am Thursday. The category 1 storm had maximum sustained winds up to 75 miles per hour, and it was moving west-northwest at 16 mph.
Environmental conditions will be conducive for further intensification, but only for a limited amount of time. Hurricane Jerry is forecast to enter an environment of stronger upper level winds this weekend, which may prevent further strengthening.
The official forecast track for Hurricane Jerry includes a west-northwestward motion through Saturday, passing north of the Leeward Islands this weekend. A turn is then expected to the north, and eventually northeast early next week sparing any direct effects to South Carolina or the Southeast. Confidence in a turn away from land early next, at least through Tuesday, has increased considerably. There is no official forecast on a tropical storm or hurricane beyond five days due to limitations in credible forecast modeling.
Meteorologists at the South Carolina Emergency Information Network will continue to monitor Hurricane Jerry, and the entire Tropical Atlantic Basin, and provide periodic updates on this site, on your local NPR station, and through the SCETV Facebook and Twitter accounts.