Nicole Heading For the Open North Atlantic After Pounding Bermuda; Dangerous Swells Along U.S. East Coast

October 14,2016
Nicole made a direct hit on Bermuda Thursday as the strongest hurricane to affect the Atlantic archipelago in 13 years. Dangerous surf and rip currents could continue for Bermuda and surf may grow in coastal eastern Canada.
(MORE: Interactive Tracker For Nicole)
Nicole is being sheared apart by strong winds aloft as it gains latitude, but thunderstorm activity remains persistent around the center.

Current Storm Information

While it may become a "post-tropical" cyclone during the next day or two, it will remain a strong north Atlantic storm well into next week. However, this system poses no direct threat to any additional land areas.

Projected Path

Despite this, large swells generated from Nicole's winds will continue to reach parts of the U.S. East Coast and Atlantic Canada the next day or so.

A Rare Bermuda Major Hurricane Eye

A last-hour eastward wobble appeared to spare Bermuda the eastern semicircle of Nicole, typically the location of a hurricane's strongest winds.
However, the northern, then western eyewall did not spare Bermuda, lashing the island with wind gusts over 100 mph in spots.
(LATEST NEWS: Nicole Rakes Bermuda)

Sustained winds topped 75 mph at Pearl Island and at L.F. Wade International Airport where peak gusts of 119 mph and 104 mph were measured, respectively.
In fact, the eye of Nicole moved over Bermuda midday Thursday before moving away later in the day.
No other center of a Category 3 or stronger hurricane had tracked as close to Bermuda (officially, it did not "make landfall", according to the National Hurricane Center) as Nicole's center did since an Oct. 22, 1926 hurricane. (Hurricane Fabian's eastern eyewall struck Bermuda in 2003, but its center remained about 14 miles west of Bermuda at its closest approach.)

In a true "weather geek" moment, the Bermuda Weather Service launched a weather balloon in the eye, something they also did during Hurricane Gonzalo in October 2014.
They described the "suspended salt spray", with a "small of ripped vegetation hanging in the heavy, hot air".
Prior to Nicole's direct hit on Bermuda, its large eye, approximately 50 miles wide at one time, was much larger than the width of Bermuda.

Nicole rapidly strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane late Wednesday evening with maximum sustained winds increasing to 130 mph.
(MORE: Hurricane Central)

Hurricanes of this intensity passing near Bermuda are exceedingly rare. Only 12 Category 3 hurricanes have tracked within 75 miles of Bermuda since 1899.

Only four October hurricanes have tracked within 50 miles of Bermuda dating back to 1950, according to Dr. Phil Klotzbach, tropical scientist at Colorado State University.

Eric Blake, hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center, tweeted Thursday that near-record warm sea-surface temperatures near Bermuda are contributing to Nicole's intensity.

Bermuda's Recent Hurricane History

A yacht was turned upside down and parked on a rock outcropping in Bermuda from Hurricane Fay in October 2014.
(Chad Sellers/Wikimedia)

For just a 21 square mile archipelago in the vast Atlantic Ocean, roughly three-fifths the size of Manhattan, Bermuda has been very unlucky lately.

In 2014, back-to-back hurricanes struck Bermuda within six days: Hurricane Fay on Oct. 12, followed by Hurricane Gonzalo on Oct. 18.

Fay was unexpectedly damaging, knocking out power to the vast majority of Bermuda’s residents.

Cleanup had to be expedited as Gonzalo quickly followed; Gonzalo was Bermuda’s strongest and most damaging hurricane since Fabian in 2003. Gonzalo left behind an estimated $200 million to $400 million in insured losses in Bermuda. It took two weeks to fully restore power, there.

In early September 2003, Hurricane Fabian struck Bermuda at Category 3 intensity in what was considered Bermuda's worst hurricane strike since 1926. An estimated storm surge up to 10 feet inflicted heavy damage at the coast, and roof damage was widespread in exposed areas.

According to the National Hurricane Center's final report on Hurricane Gonzalo, new construction in Bermuda is required to withstand sustained winds to about 110 mph, Category 2 intensity.

MORE: Images of Hurricane Eyes