Ernesto strengthened early Monday after regaining hurricane status over the weekend, producing life-threatening surf and rip currents along much of the East Coast.
As the hurricane strengthened in the past few hours, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center said Ernesto’s cloud system had stopped strengthening.
Ernesto was rotating about 340 miles southeast of Halifax, Canada, the National Hurricane Center said. It is moving much faster to the north-northeast than it has in recent days, at 21 mph, the center said in its 5 a.m. ET update.
“A turn toward the northeast and east-northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected today and Tuesday,” the NHC said in its advisory on the storm. The storm is expected to maintain its strength on Monday and weaken later in the night, the hurricane center added.
With maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm Saturday night, but did not reach hurricane strength. But it strengthened again on Sunday, producing maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, above the 74 mph threshold for a Category 1 hurricane.
“The center of Ernesto will pass near southeastern Newfoundland tonight and early Tuesday,” forecasters said Monday, “and a weak trend will begin tonight or tomorrow.”
New York City officials, concerned about rip currents, closed Brooklyn and Queens beaches to swimming late Sunday.
In New Jersey, state officials warned beachgoers to watch for choppy currents and keep their feet in the sand until a lifeguard is on duty. In Atlantic City, officials warned that high seas created by Ernesto could combine with high tide after 7 p.m. Sunday to create coastal flooding.
A man who died at sea in Surf City, North Carolina, was identified Sunday as Sean A. Davis, 41, of Hampstead, North Carolina, the Surf City Fire Department said in a statement.
The department, which also runs lifeguard operations, did not link Saturday afternoon’s incident to Ernesto, but it said beachgoers should be aware of the conditions and never go into the water alone.
On Friday, two people died in a rip current off Hilton Head, South Carolina. The victims, identified as Ralph Jamieson, 65, and Leonard Schenz, 73, died in separate incidents and appeared to have been swept away by rip currents, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
It’s unclear whether Ernesto can be blamed, however, officials said Hilton Head waters are subject to currents year-round.
Dramatic video posted on Instagram on Friday showed a house on the North Carolina coast collapsing under incoming waves.
There were no injuries after the Rodanthe crashed on Hatteras Island. The home was unoccupied, the National Park Service said in a statement. Officials at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Bee Island National Wildlife Refuge asked visitors to avoid the beaches around Rodanthe.
The North Carolina coast from Newport to Morehead City was blanketed by the National Weather Service’s forecast of life-threatening rip currents that could “sweep even the best swimmers off shore into deep water.”
The coast around Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, beyond Wilmington, North Carolina, is subject to the same forecast.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration buoys measured wave heights of 5 to 6 feet Sunday evening along the coast from North Carolina to Rhode Island.
Life-threatening surf and rip currents are possible from Bermuda to Canada for the next few days, the hurricane center said.
Ten million people were shut down by National Weather Service coastal flood advisories on Sunday. These advisories are issued when moderate to major coastal flooding occurs or is imminent.
Gemma DeCassimiro, Michelle Acevedo, Alex Lo, Carolina Gonzalez, Marin Scott, Bouarrouj cannon And Joe Kotke Contributed.
