Hurricane Jose should remain off the East Coast

The only impacts from Hurricane Jose are likely to be rough surf and dangerous rip currents through at least early next week, forecasters say.

Jose is probably is to stay “well to our east” in the open Atlantic Ocean, according to an early Tuesday evening forecast discussion from the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly. 

The cyclone, located 640 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, is a minimal hurricane containing maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour. 

The official National Hurricane Center track has Jose heading eastward through late Wednesday before beginning to loop westward by early Thursday. By early Sunday, track that takes Jose more northwesterly, northward, then northeasterly, the cyclone is likely to be west of Bermuda. 

No land masses are within the center’s cone of uncertainty — where the center of circulation might track — although Bermuda is just outside the area by Sunday afternoon. 

By early next week, weather forecasting models indicate that Jose is likely to be pushed northward parallel to the East Coast but away from land. Forecasters, however, will remain vigilant and continue tracking. 

With more than two months left in the current hurricane season, NOAA advises coastal residents to have a plan should a tropical system threaten or strike. 

FEMA offers the following easy, low-cost steps to get prepared now:

Have a family discussion about what you will do, where you will go and how you will communicate with each other when a storm threatens.
Know your evacuation route.
Tune into your local news or download the FEMA app to get alerts.
Listen to local authorities as a storm approaches.

The 2017 Atlantic basin hurricane season will end on November 30.