Hurricane Ernesto path: Live tracker, NYC impacts and more
PUERTO RICO - Hurricane Ernesto formed off the coast of Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning after the then-tropical storm blasted the U.S. territory with torrential rain that led to numerous reports of flooding, as well as damaging wind gusts that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of utility customers.
HURRICANE ERNESTO UPDATE: LOCATION l PATH l PUERTO RICO l NYC IMPACTS
The tropics have become more active over the past few weeks with the development of Debby, a hurricane-turned-tropical-depression, which slammed New York City last week with whipping winds and "Debby Downpours."
Tropical storm alerts associated with Hurricane Ernesto have been issued. (FOX Weather)
Here's everything you need to know about Hurricane Ernesto, including its current location, latest path, and impacts for Puerto Rico and NYC.
Hurricane tracker 2024
According to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Hurricane Ernesto is located about 175 miles northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and about 835 miles south-southwest of Bermuda.
The latest information on Hurricane Ernesto. (FOX Weather)
Hurricane Ernesto is moving off to the northwest at 16 mph and has maximum sustained winds of 75 mph with higher gusts.
The NHC says Hurricane Ernesto is expected to strengthen over the next few days, and could become a major hurricane (Category 3 or higher).
Hurricane Ernesto track
According to the NHC, Ernesto is expected to make a turn to the north-northwest and then north over the western Atlantic Ocean as it moves away from Puerto Rico.
Current stats for Hurricane Ernesto. (FOX Weather)
Ernesto spaghetti model
A look at the forecast track of spaghetti plots for Hurricane Ernesto. (FOX Weather)
Hurricane Ernesto: Puerto Rico impacts
The U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have been blasted by the effects of then-Tropical Storm Ernesto as the storm moved across the region overnight and into Wednesday.
Numerous Flash Flood Warnings have been issued across Puerto Rico, including in San Juan, where FOX Weather Correspondent Nicole Valdes has been hunkering down and gathering information on how the storm is impacting the island.
"Today, where we were looking at one of the major threats for the mainland here was, in fact, all this rain turning into that flood threat," Valdes said. "We’ve seen some of it really pull up in those mountainous regions where you get a lot more rain that falls, but you also have a lot of it that moves, really, into low-lying areas and low-lying rivers."
A look at the forecast rain totals from Hurricane Ernesto in the Caribbean. (FOX Weather)
Flooding has been a major concern in Puerto Rico, and there have been reports of people being trapped in vehicles and homes as rushing floodwaters cut off escape routes.
Power outages have also skyrocketed across the region, with Luma Energy reporting more than 560,000 outages island-wide.
But it’s not only Puerto Rico that is feeling the storm’s effects.
A look at the forecast wind gusts from Hurricane Ernesto in the Caribbean. (FOX Weather)
The U.S. Virgin Islands were also blasted with strong winds and heavy rain, and a majority of the islands of St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix are without power.
According to PowerOutage.us, more than 46,000 power outages have been reported and continue to climb.
Schools were closed across the region on Tuesday, and government officials for the U.S. Virgin Islands said government offices would be closed on Wednesday.
A look at the forecast rain totals from Hurricane Ernesto in Puerto Rico. (FOX Weather)
Ernesto made landfall in the British Virgin Islands on Tuesday night with 65-mph winds, making it a strong tropical storm.
Video from the area shows the torrential rain and damaging winds whipping across the region as the full effects of Tropical Storm Ernesto were being felt.
Hurricane Ernesto track: Any NYC impacts?
At this time, it doesn't appear Ernesto will directly impact the mainland U.S.
However, large swells generated by Ernesto are expected to reach the East Coast and Bermuda late this week and into the weekend. The large waves will likely cause life-threatening surf and rip currents at beaches.
"It should not make landfall for us here, but it will be sending in a lot of wave action over the weekend into next week," FOX 5 NY's Mike Woods said. "So, we'll have impacts for days to come."
FOX Weather's Steven Yablonski helped contribute to this report.