As Tropical Storm Franklin moves north and gets closer to becoming a hurricane, local meteorologists say they’re “keeping a close eye” on the storm’s path and its potential impact on the region.
The biggest threat for the middle of next week appears to be an elevated rip current risk for local beaches, according to the National Weather Service.
“It looks like we could be getting some really moderate to high rip currents,” Kyle Pederson, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boston office, told the Herald on Thursday.
“One thing is it shouldn’t be super hot for the beach next week, which could help with not as many people at the beach,” he added.
After Tropical Storm Franklin dumped rain on the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos, the storm was strengthening and was expected to become a hurricane by the weekend.
“We’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on it,” Pederson said.
Franklin’s maximum sustained winds have increased to near 60 mph with higher gusts. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles from the center.
“While there are no direct tropical threats to our region at this time, we will be keeping an eye on developments in the tropics,” reads the National Weather Service’s Boston forecast discussion.
“With Franklin anticipated to be moving north past Bermuda early next week,” NWS adds, “At least, it is possible that swell from Franklin has potential to impact our waters around early to mid next week.”
Ahead of next week, the forecast shows some wet weather on the way for the final weekend of August. Friday will be “a bit of a washout, especially in the morning,” Pederson said. Heavy rain and thunder is expected.
Some showers could linger on Saturday, along with a chance for thunderstorms during the day.
“It won’t be a washout on Saturday,” Pederson said. “The showers will be scattered.”
Then things should dry out on Sunday for a pleasant day with cooler temps in the low 70s. Monday should be a similar dry and cool day before shower chances return for Tuesday and Wednesday.