Hurricane Ian made landfall on the western side of Cuba on Tuesday morning and appears headed toward the Gulf Coast of Florida as an even stronger storm.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Ian came ashore Cuba near La Coloma as a Category 3 hurricane around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, with maximum sustained winds at 125 mph.
Hurricane Ian projected path
The forecast calls for Ian to strengthen since it’s passed over Cuba and makes its way toward Florida. It is expected to be a Category 4 hurricane with winds reaching 140 mph sometime before midnight Tuesday.
The storm’s path has been shifting eastward, putting Venice, Florida, in the crosshairs of Ian, which is forecast to weaken slightly to a Category 3 storm by the time it makes landfall in the United States.
How will Hurricane Ian affect Delaware?
It’s still too early to tell what effect Hurricane Ian will have on Delaware and its beaches. Most models show the storm striking the west coast of Florida, moving northeast across the state before taking a path northward away from the coast through Georgia and the Carolinas.
Extended weather forecasts for Rehoboth Beach call for increasing winds from Thursday through Monday, with high probabilities of rain on Saturday and Sunday. It’s expected that if the storm moves into Delaware, it will be a shell of the storm that will impact Florida. The maximum wind speeds in Delaware aren’t expected to reach over 30 mph.
The National Weather Service has issued no warnings or advisories for Delaware as of 1 p.m. Tuesday.
