Triple simultaneous hurricanes: Maria, Nate and Ophelia

[phantom power]

Nearing the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, there are three active systems - all three hurricanes.

Hurricane Ophelia, now with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, is meandering just off the east coast of Florida. It is going nowhere fast; remaining nearly stationary. While it festers in the warm waters off of Florida, Ophelia is expected to strengthen even more under minimal shear over the next few days and slowly drift. Without any definitive steering currents aloft, the forecast calls for Ophelia to drift ever-so-slowly northeastward off the coast of northeast Florida and Georgia. Heavy surf, rip currents and squally weather will continue to lash parts of northeast and east-central coastal Florida right into the weekend. There have been some localized reports of overwash in Flagler Beach, Florida along A1A due to the high surf. These kinds of reports will be common overnight into Friday as long as Ophelia remains so close to the coast. Residents and visitors need to be extremely cautious of this threat. Winds have been gusting 30 to 40 mph along the coast from Jacksonville to Melbourne on Thursday with a localized gust at Port Canaveral to 52 mph. Some coastal showers could inch northward into Georgia and the Carolinas this weekend.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic, Nate is a hurricane (the 6th hurricane this season) and has peak winds of 85 mph. The good news Nate is moving to the northeast and away from Bermuda now with only a threat of sea and surf overnight into early Friday then it will be clear of the danger. Farther downstream, Maria (75 mph) is still a hurricane, but is still forecast to weaken a bit as it plows northeastward through the open waters of the central Atlantic. Maria is expected to transition to a powerful mid-latitude storm by the end of the week, churning northeastward between Ireland and the southern tip of Greenland early next week.
http://www.weather.com/newscenter/tropical/?from=wxcenter_news