THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, October 7, 1995              TAG: 9510070237
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   65 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** The wrong coordinates ran for Tropical Storm Pablo in Saturday's paper. The correct positions for the 24-hour period were: Oct. 5, 11 p.m.: 11.4 lat., 41.6 long., 60 mph. Oct. 6, 5 a.m.: 11.8 lat., 42.9 long., 60 mph; 11 a.m., 12.6 lat., 47.7 long., 60 mph; 5 p.m.: 12.4 lat, 48.6 long., 50 mph. Correction published in The Virginian Pilot, Tuesday, October 10, 1995, p.A2 ***************************************************************** NEW STORM TAKES AIM AT RAVAGED CARIBBEAN

He's one guest that residents of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Leeward Islands won't welcome, but Tropical Storm Pablo was steering straight at the hurricane-ravaged tourist meccas Friday.

For now, at least, the storm is a puny cousin of hurricanes Luis and Marilyn, which tore through the islands last month. At 5 p.m. Friday, Pablo was about 775 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, with maximum sustained winds near 50 mph. Little change in strength is expected through today.

Pablo had been racing west, hitting speeds of more than 30 mph overnight Thursday and early Friday. But it slowed to a more conventional 17 mph Friday. It was expected to continue heading west.

That track is similar to those of Luis and Marilyn. Both storms eventually turned to the north and northeast, passing between Bermuda and the Outer Banks and churning up strong surf along the Virginia and North Carolina coasts.

Although the National Hurricane Center is calling for Pablo to be nearing Puerto Rico by Monday afternoon, the storm is not expected to reach hurricane strength before then as had been anticipated.

It is running headlong into strong winds in the upper atmosphere that are blowing from west to east. The result is a ``shearing'' in which the top of the tropical storm is carved apart by the opposing winds. That halts strengthening.

The Hurricane Center warned that Pablo could yet intensify, however. It is expected to move into a more stable environment, away from shearing winds, in a few days.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Noel continued to roam the Atlantic, threatening to bring tropical storm-force winds to the Azores this weekend. At 5 p.m. Friday, Noel was about 500 miles southwest of the Azores, moving east northeast.

As for Opal, even as residents of the Gulf Coast tried to pick up the pieces - and authorities faced questions of why there was such short warning to flee - the storm was speeding northeast through the Canada, still kicking up winds of 40 mph and dropping heavy rain in Maine and New Hampshire. ILLUSTRATION: TRACKER'S GUIDE

STEVE STONE/Staff

Tropical Storm Noel

Tropical Storm Pablo

[For a copy of the chart, see microfilm.]

by CNB