Hurricane Maria restrengthened into a category 3 hurricane on Thursday as it developed a new, large eye after moving away from Puerto Rico. Maria is likely at its secondary peak intensity, and a slow weakening trend is likely to begin this weekend as it recurves out into the Atlantic.

As of 11:00 p.m. EDT Thursday, Hurricane Maria was centered near 21.0°N 70.2°W and was moving northwestward at about 8 mph. Maximum sustained winds were 110 knots (125 mph), with an estimated minimum pressure of 955 mb. Maria has restrengthened a little today as its eye has become better defined, although the eye has begun to contract a little in the last hour or so. Maria is slowly moving northwestward, and the core of the hurricane should pass just east of the Turks and Caicos Islands on Friday, where a Hurricane Warning is currently in effect. On Saturday, Maria should begin to turn more to the north and begin to weaken, as the hurricane moves over cooler water and wind shear increases a little. Even though weakening is expected, Maria should remain a hurricane for five days or longer. There is increasing confidence that Maria will be able to recurve, and a landfall in the United States appears very unlikely as of this time. It also appears as if Maria will remain too far west to avoid significant impacts to the island of Bermuda. Even though Maria is not expected to make landfall in the United States, rough surf and swells are likely along the United States East Coast into next week.

The 16-day long life of Hurricane Jose came to an end on Thursday evening when the National Hurricane Center (NHC) declared Jose a post-tropical remnant low. As of 11:00 p.m. EDT Thursday, Post-Tropical Cyclone Jose was centered near 39.5°N 68.4°W, and was moving westward at about 2 mph. Maximum sustained winds were 45 knots (50 mph), with an estimated minimum pressure of 987 mb. Jose was declared a post-tropical remnant low as the system is now lacking significant deep convection near the center. What’s left of Jose should continue to spin down as it moves erratically during the next few days, dissipating by early next week, if not sooner. As Jose continues to bring Tropical Storm Conditions to portions of New England, NHC will continue issuing advisories on Jose until the threat of Tropical Storm Conditions ends.

I will be back with another post tomorrow.