(Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Oscar formed near the Turks and Caicos Islands on Saturday, while a second system, Tropical Storm Nadine, started to cross Belize, sparking warnings across Cuba and the Bahamas.
Oscar is a small hurricane, with wind forces extending only five miles out from the center. It’s expected to reach the coasts of the Turks and Caicos Islands and southeastern Bahamas on Saturday evening, the US National Hurricane Center said in a 5 p.m. New York time advisory. Turks and Caicos residents should prepare for coastal flooding between two and four feet, and expect a dangerous storm surge and destructive waves, the NHS said.
Hurricane conditions can potentially reach Cuba by Sunday night, the NHS said, dropping as much as six inches of rain. Cuba is already grappling with a nationwide electricity outage after one of its largest power plants failed on Friday.
Nadine, with sustained winds of 45 miles per hour, started to cross the coast into Belize on Saturday, spreading as much as eight inches of rain there and in neighboring Guatemala and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, the NHS said. After Nadine comes ashore, its winds are forecast to weaken, and it will likely fall apart on Sunday.
Oscar initially formed from a patch of thunderstorms and showers about 190 miles southeast of the Bahamas, before growing into a hurricane-strength storm on Saturday. It’s expected to almost reverse direction on Monday, while gradually weakening.
Oscar marks the Atlantic’s 15th storm, which is one more than a typical six-month season. Officially, the 2024 season ends on Nov. 30, though some storms occur after.
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