Category 4 Hurricane Franklin expected to impact Eastern Seaboard

Hurricane Franklin continues to churn as a major Category 4 hurricane far off the East Coast, but is still threatening impacts to both the Eastern Seaboard and Bermuda. 

Maximum sustained winds have decreased Tuesday morning to near 140 mph with higher gusts, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

However, Franklin is still a formidable Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

Steady weakening is forecast during the next several days as the center of Franklin is expected to pass west of Bermuda on Wednesday.

The FOX Forecast Center says the Southeast and mid-Atlantic are already seeing life-threatening surf and rip currents.

The danger could stay through the Labor Day weekend, but the forecast remains that the storm will not land in the US. 

The Hurricane Hunters, part of the Air Force Reserve unit known as the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, have made several flights into Franklin to take measurements, including into the storm’s eye over the weekend.

Where is Hurricane Franklin now?

Hurricane Franklin is located about 385 miles west-southwest of Bermuda and is moving to the north at 9 mph. 

Franklin’s winds are 130 mph with higher gusts, according to the NHC. 

Where is Hurricane Franklin headed?

Hurricane Franklin is not forecast to make landfall in the US.

The track from the NHC shows the storm moving between the East Coast and Bermuda this week.

The Meteorological Service of Bermuda issued a Tropical Storm Watch for Bermuda.

Franklin will make its closest approach to the island Wednesday.

“I urge residents to stay alert and to monitor weather and official updates,” said Bermuda Minister of National Security Michal Weeks, JP, MP.

On the forecast track, the cyclone is expected to shoot the gap between Bermuda and the US as it makes a gradual turn toward the north and then north-northeast.

The storm will pick up its pace over the next few days and gradually lose strength, forecast to drop under hurricane strength this weekend.

Will the US be affected by Franklin?

While Hurricane Franklin is not expected to hit the US mainland, big swells will impact the Eastern Seaboard starting Monday and will likely linger through Labor Day weekend, the FOX Forecast Center said.

In addition, dangerous rip currents are forecast for beaches up and down the East Coast this week.

Swells and life-threatening surf began to affect Bermuda and the southeast US on Monday.

Those impacts are forecast to spread north along the US coast and Atlantic Canada over the next few days. 

“This is not going to be a landfall for us,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Britta Merwin. “We have a series of troughs coming off the East Coast, and that’s going to be our protector. You don’t have to worry about this making landfall on the East Coast, but we could see some rough surf conditions.”

By Wednesday morning, waves off the coast of North Carolina could be 9 to 12 feet, Merwin adds. 

“Thankfully, the strongest waves and the biggest waves are going to be out of here by the time we get to Labor Day weekend,” she said. “But if we have this pass too close, and we have some beach erosion ahead of the Labor Day weekend holiday, we could see some minor implications there.”