Tropical Storm Erika’s path on Friday morning is still puzzling forecasters, as it is headed south of Puerto Rico and moving west-northwest.
One big question among forecasters is what happens when it crosses the Dominican Republic? It's pretty disorganized now, so it could fizzle out over Hispanola. If it survives that trip, Erika will re-enter warm water and get stronger, according to Florida Public Radio meteorologist Jeff Huffman.
Here’s his latest update, according to data from the National Weather Center:
Tropical Storm Erika is even more disorganized this morning, and still on a west-northwest track just south of Puerto Rico.
The storm has maximum winds up to 50 mph and will be approaching the Dominican Republic later this morning. Thunderstorms continue to be displaced from the center and the National Hurricane Center reports that Erika may not be able to survive the current wind shear and upcoming land interactions.
Should it survive, the forecast for Erika is to potentially have a window to strengthen when it moves north of Cuba on Saturday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHz8Pn2RX0Q
After that, the storm is expected to approach South Florida as a tropical storm, but it is very unclear at this time whether it will move west or east of the peninsula, or even track up the center of the state. Confidence in the track and intensity remains very low at this time.
