Hanna’s path early Tuesday appeared to be a “meandering” loop across the Turks and Caicos Islands, but atmospheric changes over the western Atlantic are expected to steer the storm northwestward over the next two or three days, according to forecasters.
As of 2 a.m., Hanna was a Category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale with 80 mph top winds.
While the hurricane center forecasters said “only modest changes in intensity are anticipated” over the next day or two, Hanna is expected to gain strength before landfall.
Hanna’s line of fire could include the U.S. Atlantic coast from Miami to Massachusetts, according to the hurricane center’s long-range forecast map. Charleston, South Carolina appears in the middle of this “cone of uncertainty,” with Hanna potentially making landfall there Friday.
If Hanna moves up the East Coast, this should help relieve some of the drought, but at what cost in lives and property? Tropical storm Ike is another story, and it bears close watching.