Hurricane Maria: Florida could see rough surf and riptides

On Wednesday, Hurricane Maria crashed into Puerto Rico, and cut out power to the majority of the United States territory as frightened civilians hunkered down in the face of Puerto Rico’s worst storm in history. After leaving a fatal trail of destruction upon a slew of tinier Caribbean islands, the hurricane made landfall on the island’s SE coast around daybreak, and packed winds of about 150 miles per hour.

Early Thursday, Maria, which regained strength overnight, lashed the Dominican Republic after a rampage through Dominica and Puerto Rico.

According to National Hurricane Center, this storm is a Cat 3 hurricane which packs winds of 115 miles per hour.

According to forecasters, the present forecast doesn’t show a direct hit upon the East Coast, yet such a path can’t be ruled out this far ahead of time.

The hurricane center added that Maria, moving away from Puerto Rico, is bringing heavy rain and high winds to the N. coast of the Dominican Republic.

Then, it’ll march to the Islands of Turks and Caicos, and the SE Bahamas on Thur. evening and Friday.

However, tracking models are great for 3 – 5 days, and anything beyond this is difficult to forecast.

A 5-day period shows the hurricane winding off the United States East Coast, yet it isn’t clear what will happen afterward.

Whether the storm’s eye will reach the E. Coast is a waiting game. Plus, even if it doesn’t make landfall, the E. Coast is going to be affected in some type of way.

The ones living from NC’s Outer Banks to Cape Cod, MA, should observe the storm for changes.

While the amount of areas affected are going to be a lot clearer as Maria grows closer, Florida might witness riptides and rough surf from Melbourne through Jacksonville.

Watch for our updates about our first event this Halloween!