Maria Making Landfall in P.R.

Maria - a strong Cat 4 hurricane with maximum sustained wind up to 155 mph is making landfall in Puerto Rico this morning. The storm will track northwest from there and then curve more to the north. It could bring fringe effects to coastal North Carolina early next week. I don't expect it to make landfall in the U.S., however fringe effects in southeastern New England can't be ruled out about a week from now. Here is the latest advisory from NHC.

Meanwhile, Jose, now a tropical storm with max sustained wind up to 65 mph, continues to trend a little further south & east. This means its effects on our region will continue to be minimal. Some showers/areas of rain across southeastern New England (and maybe parts of eastern CT and parts of the twin forks of Long Island), and breezy conditions today are about it. North-Northeast winds will stay mostly in the 15-35 mph range (including gusts), except across coastal, southeastern New England and maybe the eastern end of Long Island, where speeds will be a bit higher (maybe gusts to 50 mph+ on Cape Cod). Dangerous rip currents will be a hazard in the coastal waters. It will become mostly sunny on Thursday. Humidity levels will start to decrease by later in the day. Friday looks mostly sunny with comfortable humidity and temperatures in the 70's. Looks like a decent weekend at this point with sun, warmer temps (upper 70's-low 80's) and higher humidity (dew points rising into the 60's). Indications are that Jose will stall east of Cape Cod and may start to retrograde back to the west/southwest as it decays. Depending on how that system actually behaves, conditions in parts of southeastern New England may not be as favorable as described above.

Below: Radar & Wind Gusts (Click to Enlarge)