Fabian strengthens; no threat to Florida
By Mary Ellen Flannery, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 31, 2003
Hurricane Fabian, the third hurricane of the Atlantic season, sang Turn Me Loose on Saturday, as its winds grew from 75 mph to 125 mph and it continued to churn far, far, away from Florida.
The storm, the third hurricane of the Atlantic season, was dancing west-northwest across a watery stage, about 710 miles east of the Lesser Antilles and about 2,000 miles southeast of Palm Beach, at about 13 mph, said National Hurricane Center meteorologist Eric Holweg.
With hurricane-force winds extending about 25 miles from its center, and tropical-storm force winds reaching about 115 miles, "It's a very impressive-looking storm," Holweg said.
But Fabian isn't expected to show off his talents in Florida.
The center's forecast calls for the hurricane, which shares a name with a former teen heartthrob, to continue flitting west-northwest and then hoof it north.
By midweek, the storm should be about 350 miles north of Puerto Rico.
The five-day forecast doesn't anticipate any meeting between Fabian and firma, but it does expect the storm to maintain the same intensity, Holweg said.
At the same time, a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico became Tropical Storm Grace on Saturday.
Grace was expected to hit the Texas shore, somewhere between Corpus Christi and High Island, with heavy rain and high tides Saturday night.
"As far as storms go, it is probably going to be a minimal tropical storm," National Weather Service meteorologist Charles Roeseler said. But he added that it could produce as much as 12 inches of rain.
The storm could cause additional problems for the area where Hurricane Claudette in July caused an estimated $90 million in losses and wiped out dune systems, which protect central Texas' coastal communities.
mary_ellen_flannery@pbpost.com
Is this irresponsible or is it just me. Where do they get off telling people that it won't come here. Wonder how many people just read the headline and passed it by? :o How many days until we know for sure? My God, it's not even to the islands yet!!!
I will have to fire off a letter to them tomorrow.
Debbie
how can they tell this when it's so way far away and so much left to tell?
