Hurricane Earl

Hurricane Earl churned on a path toward the North Carolina coast of the eastern seaboard on Tuesday after lashing Puerto Rico and northeast Caribbean islands with winds, rain and waves, the National Hurricane Center said.

The forecast track of Earl, the second major hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic season, showed the fringes of the powerful Category 4 storm clipping North Carolina’s Outer Banks barrier islands early on Friday and also threatening the U.S. coast northward from there.


“Interests from the Carolinas northward to New England should monitor the progress of Earl,” the Miami-based hurricane center said.

Barry Baxter, a hurricane center meteorologist, said forecasters had nudged the storm’s track slightly to the west overnight but still had it narrowly missing a direct full-on impact to the U.S. coast.