A Tropical Storm Watch remains in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands. A Tropical Storm Watch means that Tropical Storm conditions could be experienced within the Turks and Caicos Islands within 48 hours. At 2 pm EDT, the center of Tropical Storm Franklin was located near latitude 15.5 degrees north and longitude 71.4 degrees west, or about 230 miles south-southwest of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 420 miles south of Cockburn Town, Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands, 410 miles southeast of Matthew Town, Inagua and 760 miles southeast of New Providence. Tropical Storm Franklin is drifting toward the northwest near 7 miles-per-hour.
The system should turn towards the north later today, and a northeast motion is expected on Thursday. On the forecast track, the center of Franklin is forecast to reach the southern coast of Hispaniola today, cross the island on Wednesday, and then emerge over the southwestern Atlantic waters late Wednesday. Maximum sustained winds are near 50 miles-per-hour with higher gusts. Little change in strength is forecast before Franklin reaches Hispaniola. Some weakening is likely while the storm moves across Hispaniola. Tropical Storm force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the center. Residents in the Turks and Caicos Islands should begin to make preparations for the possibility of Tropical Storm conditions beginning late Wednesday night.
Residents in the Southeast Bahamas should closely monitor Alerts issued by the Bahamas Department of Meteorology and be ready to prepare for possible Tropical Storm conditions in the next few days. Franklin is expected to produce rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches, with isolated higher amounts of 4 inches over the most easterly islands.
