This morning Ernesto brought some heavy rain and gusty winds to Puerto Rico and the Virgina Islands.

The center of the storm passed by Puerto Rico, but they still had some effects as the flooding rains continued behind the storm. As you look at the above satellite/radar image, you may notice what looks like an eye trying to form. As of this writing I believe Ernesto is also strengthening into a hurricane. There is a lot of warm water along Ernesto’s path.

So there is a lot of fuel for the storm to feed off of. Also there is not much wind shear in the short-term forecast.

Ernesto is predicted to snake its way north over the next few days. Unfortunately for Bermuda, it looks like the storm will get very close to that island by the weekend.

The latest models are really starting to focus on a track that is near Bermuda.

The European model also shows that the system could potentially become very large.

This is bad news for Bermuda as Ernesto could really rev up the storm surge. They could also have strong damaging winds and heavy rain. It’s also good and bad news for our region. It could be some really good surf for the surfers this weekend. However, it would also likely lead to a high threat for rip currents and dangerous surf. There might even be some beach erosion and overwash. We’ll see. We’ll have updates on all of that over the next 2 days. It will track north after that point, and it could affect the Canadian Maritimes.

Meanwhile, our region is in the middle of a nice weather streak. We have high pressure to our north/northwest with a stationary front far to our south.

We’ll have lots of sunshine today with only a stray shower or two in the region. High temps will rise to the mid 80s.

The great part is the humidity. Dew points are in the mid-upper 60s this morning. They should drop down to the low-mid 60s this afternoon. We’ll continue with this drier air over the next 3 days. Dew points should remain in the low-mid 60s which is pretty good for this time of year.

Temps will be in the mid-upper 80s through Friday with lots of sunshine.

By the weekend the temps and humidity will go up. Highs will be near 90 degrees. It will feel like the mid 90s with the heat index. There will be a few showers and storms, but it won’t be a washout.

Stay tuned for updates on Ernesto and the local weather.

Before I go… I found an interesting article about recent flooding and damage from glacier melt in Juneau, Alaska. Apparently, this is starting to happen more often. There have been some recent heat waves over some of the coldest places on earth. One recent heat wave over Antarctica recorded a temperature about 50 degrees above average. There have also been some recent heat waves in Canada where temps have been way above average. We’ll see what the rest of August brings.

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler