Tropical Storm Philippe dumps heavy rains on Caribbean; no longer forecast to become hurricane

Philippe on Tuesday was continuing to bring tropical storm conditions to the far eastern Caribbean but it is no longer forecast to become an Atlantic hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Philippe’s maximum sustained winds are currently 45 mph and are expected to reach 65 mph by Friday, well below the 74 mph threshold for a Category 1 hurricane. Previous forecasts had its top winds intensifying to 80-85 mph.

Philippe made landfall in Barbuda about 6 p.m. Monday, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, dumping heavy rains, with some areas likely to receive up to 12 inches.

Barbuda and Antigua have discontinued their tropical storm warnings. Anguilla is still under a tropical storm warning, and the British Virgin Islands were under a tropical storm watch.

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, Philippe was 80 miles east-northeast of St. Thomas, moving northwest at 10 mph. Its tropical-storm-force winds extended out 175 miles.

The storm is expected to move north away from the Leeward Islands on Tuesday. The National Hurricane Center said that Philippe’s strongest winds and heavy rains will likely occur to the islands south of the center.

By late Tuesday, Philippe will turn to the north-northwest and then move more north on Wednesday. The potential path of the storm has shifted slightly to the west, putting Bermuda well within the forecast cone.

The islands of the northeast corner of the Caribbean, from The British Virgin Islands through Anguilla and south to Montserrat, are expected to get 4 to 8 inches of rain, with some spots receiving as much as 12 inches.

Swells from Philippe will affect parts of the northern Leeward Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico until the middle of the week and could cause dangerous rip currents and surf, according to the NHC.

So far this season in the Atlantic, there have been 16 named storms, six of which were hurricanes. Of those, three were major hurricanes, meaning Category 3 or above.

Those were Hurricane Lee, a rare Category 5; Hurricane Franklin, a Category 4; and Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall on Florida’s Big Bend region at Category 3 strength on Aug. 30.

The next named storm will be Sean.

Hurricane season officially runs through Nov. 30.