THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 27, 1996 TAG: 9608270254
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 44 lines
Meteorologists were able to take the pulse of Hurricane Edouard Monday, and they found the storm to be even stronger and healthier than their satellites had told them.
After the National Hurricane Center had estimated Edouard's winds had dropped back to 130 mph Monday morning, an Air Force research aircraft for the first time punched through the hurricane Monday afternoon, and technicians aboard found peak sustained winds at 140 mph.
``It's a solid Category 4 hurricane'' - on the five-tier Saffir-Simpson scale - said John Hope, a senior meteorologist at The Weather Channel in Atlanta. ``Conditions are ideal to sustain it, and it could even develop some more, although we're not expecting a great deal of change.''
At 5 p.m. Monday, Edouard was about 450 miles east-northeast of the Northeastern Caribbean, heading west-northwest at 14 mph. That motion is expected to continue through today, said Miles Lawrence of the Hurricane Center.
Edouard's course is far enough to the north that the Leeward Islands probably will be spared a direct impact. But the storm could threaten the Southeast Bahamas by Thursday.
And from there?
``It could be a threat to the Southeast U.S. in about five days,'' Lawrence said.
In Hampton Roads, emergency management officials said Monday that they are keeping tabs on Edouard's progress but that it's too soon to know if it poses any real threat.
And Edouard is not alone.
Not far behind the hurricane, Tropical Depression 6 made a comeback Monday, a day after it had appeared to have fallen apart. At 5 p.m. it was about 1,200 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, heading west at 20 mph. That motion is expected to continue through today. Top winds were estimated at 35 mph, and forecasters said little change in strength was likely before today. Were it to reach sustained winds of 39 mph or higher, it would become Tropical Storm Fran.
And another tropical wave that moved off the West African coast over the weekend is showing signs of becoming better organized. The Hurricane Center said it could become the season's seventh tropical depression in a day or two. by CNB