NASSAU — Hurricane Oscar made landfall early today in the southeastern Bahamas and was heading towards Cuba.
Oscar, which the hurricane center characterized as “very small,” is the 15th named storm of the hurricane season. It formed as a tropical storm just east of the Turks and Caicos islands on Saturday before quickly becoming a hurricane.
It was just off the coast of Great Inagua in the Bahamas early today and expected to reach Guantanamo or Holguin, Cuba, later in the afternoon or evening. It was forecast to hit the Bahamas again on Tuesday but at a different point in the island chain.
Forecasters said hurricane conditions were continuing in the Bahamas at 5 a.m. Eastern Time today
Rainfall amounts of five to 10 inches — and potentially up to 15 inches in some places — were expected in eastern Cuba through Tuesday, the hurricane center reported, with two to four inches expected in the southeastern Bahamas.
The governments of the Bahamas and Cuba issued hurricane warnings for the southeastern Bahamas and the north coast of the Cuban provinces of Holguin and Guantanamo to Punta Maisi. The government of Cuba has also issued a hurricane watch for the north coast of the province of Las Tunas.
Oscar was forecast to weaken after landfall but it could still be a tropical storm when it moves north of Cuba tomorrow night on a path set to take it across the central Bahamas.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds were clocked at 80 mph as of 8 a.m. Eastern Time today. Its center was located about 10 miles southwest of Great Inagua Island, moving west-southwest at 12 mph. Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to five miles from the storm’s center.
A satellite image of Hurricane Oscar in the Caribbean taken at 10:50 p.m. Eastern Time on October 19, 2024. (Photo credit: NOAA/NESDIS/STAR GOES-East)
The Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1 and finishes November 30, with most activity occurring between mid-August and mid-October. Hurricane activity tends to peak in mid-September, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In Florida, Gulf Coast communities are struggling in the wake of back-to-back hurricanes, as Hurricane Helene rammed into the region less than two weeks before Hurricane Milton arrived.
By CBS News
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