Overview
- The National Hurricane Center named the offshore nor'easter Subtropical Storm Josephine Wednesday after it acquired subtropical characteristics over the Gulf Stream, and the center was about 265 miles south of Nantucket with maximum sustained winds near 65 mph.
- Forecasts call for Josephine to turn northeast and accelerate away from the U.S., with some strengthening expected over the next 24 to 36 hours and the possibility of hurricane‑force winds as it becomes a post‑tropical cyclone late Thursday into Friday.
- Josephine has a very large wind field with tropical‑storm‑force winds extending hundreds of miles from the center, and those winds are already generating high surf, life‑threatening rip currents, gale‑force gusts and minor to locally moderate coastal flooding along parts of the Mid‑Atlantic and New England.
- Local National Weather Service offices have issued gale warnings and marine advisories and warned small watercraft operators to avoid the seas, and coastal communities should expect elevated tides and dangerous surf through high‑tide cycles even as the storm moves offshore.
- The NHC is also monitoring a separate trough east‑southeast of Bermuda with a low (about 10%) short‑term chance of development, and meteorologists note that a strong El Niño has kept Atlantic activity muted while fueling increased activity in the Eastern Pacific.