DELMARVA FORECAST

Wednesday night: Mostly cloudy with isolated showers or rumbles of thunder. Northeast winds 5-10 mph, becoming gusty toward daybreak. Lows in the low 70s. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Thursday: *Tropical Storm Conditions At The Coast* Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Windy. Northeast winds 15-25 mph, gusting to 35 at times; winds could gust over 50 mph at the coast. Highs around 80°F. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Friday: Mostly sunny. Breezy. Highs in the upper 70s.

Saturday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the low 80s.

Sunday: Scattered showers. Highs in the low 80s. Chance of rain 30 percent.

Monday: Partly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs in the low to mid 80s. Chance of rain 30 percent.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 70s.

FORECAST DISCUSSION

Normal high: 85°F. Normal low: 66°F.

***Tropical Storm Warning for Coastal Delmarva, Accomack County, and Chesapeake Bay south of Smith Island Thursday***

All eyes are on Hurricane "Erin" which moved over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream this morning. The storm has begun re-strengthening and is expected to become a major Category 3 hurricane Wednesday evening. The forecast track has not changed much, with the storm moving north before turning northeast, the center of the storm staying out over the ocean.

However, "Erin" has grown in size, and it will pass close enough to the East Coast that tropical storm conditions are expected from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to New Jersey, including coastal Delmarva.

Delmarva will see the most significant effects of "Erin" starting late Wednesday night and throughout the day Thursday, before calming down Friday morning.

Tropical Storm Warnings are posted for the Chesapeake Bay south of Smith Island, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and all of coastal Delmarva. These are the areas where we are most likely to see sustained winds of 39 mph or more. Gusts over 50 mph are likely. Coastal flooding and significant beach erosion are expected.

Elsewhere on Delmarva, significant effects are not expected. However, the entire peninsula should be prepared for gusty northeasterly winds that could blow around lawn furniture and decorations, and cause isolated power outages from downed tree limbs from higher wind gusts.

High pressure will build in Friday, bringing in sunshine. It will continue to be breezy, though, with northerly winds gusting to 25 mph or more at the coast.

Saturday will be a comfortable day with sunshine and lighter winds.

Scattered shower chances return for Sunday and Monday.

In the long range, temperatures are expected to average below normal, and precipitation above normal for August 27 - September 2.

In the Tropics: Hurricane "Erin" - see above.

A tropical wave in the central Atlantic has a medium, 60 percent chance of becoming an organized tropical system in the next seven days as it traverses the tropical Atlantic. We need to watch this closely as it will be following a track similar to "Erin" at this same point in its development.

A tropical wave near the Cape Verde islands has a medium, 40 percent, chance of development in the next seven days.

Should these become our next named storms, the next names on the list are Fernand and Gabrielle

The Atlantic hurricane season ends on November 30.

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