THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 26, 1996 TAG: 9608260030
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 52 lines
Edouard - perhaps the mightiest hurricane ever recorded in the central Atlantic - showed hopeful signs Sunday that it might turn away from the Leeward Islands.
Packing sustained winds of 145 mph with gusts to near 170 mph, the intense storm took a slight turn more toward the northwest Sunday that, if maintained, would steer the storm north of the islands.
Forecasters warned, however, that it is still too early to know whether Edouard is a threat to the Caribbean, the Bahamas or the United States.
``That's the $64,000 question,'' said Max Mayfield, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. ``It's too early to tell.''
Based on its forward speed Sunday, it would be a week before Edouard would reach the mainland.
At 5 p.m. Sunday, Edouard was about 775 miles east of the Leeward Islands, moving west northwest near 15 mph. That motion was expected to continue through today.
The peak winds are in a very small area around the well-defined eye of the storm. Hurricane-force winds extend out up to 35 miles from the center.
It is considered a high Category Four storm on the five-tier Saffir-Simpson scale. Such storms can cause extreme damage, as Andrew did when it hit South Florida four years ago.
Forecasters were amazed that Edouard is so strong while being so far away.
``This is just about as strong a hurricane as there has ever been in the eastern Atlantic,'' said Mike Bono of The Weather Channel in Atlanta. ``For it to be knocking on the door of Category 5 this far east is really unusual.''
It's so far away that all the data on its strength have come from the probing mechanical eyes and sensors of satellites. Edouard will not be within range of hurricane hunter aircraft until today, the Hurricane Center said. A flight is scheduled and data should be coming in by this evening.
Satellite pictures alone have left meteorologists expressing amazement at Edouard's form even as they voice fear of its power.
The storm is almost perfectly symmetrical, with a well-rounded eye at the center of a tightly packed cloud pattern. Only a few hurricanes photographed from space have even taken on such impressive form.
Bono said weather patterns offer hope that Edouard will remain at sea. There is an upper-level, low-pressure system far east of Virginia that, working with a high-pressure ridge ahead of Edouard, may help grab the hurricane and swing it north. And the weather patterns coming off the mainland also might steer it away. ILLUSTRATION: TRACKER'S GUIDE
STEVE STONE
The Virginian-Pilot
[For a copy of the chart, see microfilm for this date.] by CNB