Sep 3, 2009 7:49 am US/Eastern
Tropical Storm Erika Expected To Weaken
MIAMI (WJZ) ―
Tropical Storm Erika was expected to gradually weaken over the next couple of days as it tracked toward Puerto Rico and then the Dominican Republic, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said early Thursday.
In its 2 a.m. advisory, the NHC said the poorly organized center of Erika was located about 260 miles east-southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, moving west-northwest at 7 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds holding at about 40 mph.
The system was expected to approach the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico later Thursday.
Tropical storm watches remain in effect for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Erika, the fifth named storm of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season, formed late Tuesday in the western Atlantic Ocean and was expected to weaken by Friday, with wind speeds slipping to about 35 mph before the storm dissipates in the next 72 hours.
Several computer models still show the system taking a northwesterly track toward South Florida, while some show it steering a more westerly course toward Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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