Franklin now first ‘major hurricane’ of 2023 Atlantic season

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) says Franklin has become the first major hurricane of the 2023 Atlantic season.

In a Monday morning update, the agency said the storm was about 635 kilometres north of Grand Turk Island and 810 kilometres southwest of Bermuda, with maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h, and moving 13 km/h in a north-northwest direction.

“A gradual turn toward the north and north-northeast with a slightly faster forward speed is expected during the next couple of days,” a bulletin on the NHC’s website reads.

“Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 115 mph (185 km/h) with higher gusts. This makes Franklin a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some additional strengthening is forecast today, but gradual weakening is expected to begin by Tuesday afternoon,” it added.

The NHC says swells generated by Franklin are beginning to affect Bermuda.

“These swells are expected to spread toward the east coast of the United States during the next couple of days, likely resulting in life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.”

The Canadian Hurricane Centre also issued an updated map on Franklin’s track early Monday morning.

The map now shows the hurricane south of Nova Scotia by 3 a.m. local time Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 155 km/h. The storm is then expected to track south of Newfoundland by 3 a.m. Friday at 140 km/h before it moves east, away from Atlantic Canada, by Saturday morning.

The storm was originally forecast to affect parts of southeastern Newfoundland this week, but is no longer expected to have much impact on land.

On Sunday, the Canadian Hurricane Centre said Franklin was tracking farther south and more slowly than originally predicted, taking it further away from the province’s coast.

Despite the change in the storm’s path, however, the centre says Atlantic Canada should still brace for heavy rain from Wednesday through Friday.

With files from The Canadian Press