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With Danny looming, residents urged to keep an eye on the forecasts

E-mail|Link|Comments () August 26, 2009 07:00 PM

By Abbie Ruzicka and Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondents

Tropical Storm Danny has the potential to turn into a Category 1 hurricane that could pass close to the Massachusetts coast on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

The tropical storm was 735 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., or about 1,100 miles south of Martha's Vineyard, on Wednesday afternoon, with winds topping out at 45 miles per hour, meteorologist Glenn Field said.

The storm, which is traveling 12 miles per hour toward the northwest, is expected to strengthen to a stronger tropical storm or minimal hurricane within the next couple of days, meteorologist Mike Ekster said.

“The warm waters up through the east in the mid-Atlantic could turn it into a hurricane before Saturday,” he said.

If the storm strengthens as expected, forecasters believe it could dump three to six inches of rain on eastern Massachusetts.

Experts at the National Hurricane Center advised residents to keep an eye on weather reports as the storm approaches.

Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said earlier today that officials are monitoring the storm closely while it is circulating over warm Caribbean waters.

“We have a hurricane hunter aircraft and a jet flying around the storm to get atmosphere readings on Danny this afternoon,” Feltgen said. “At this point, it would be prudent for residents in the Northeast to continue to monitor the progress of this storm."

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