Community Corner
Maria May Become a Hurricane as She Passes Ocean City
The tropical storm is on a path up the Atlantic Ocean about 500 miles from the New Jersey coastline.
Tropical Storm Maria is strengthening and may become a hurricane as she passes Ocean City on Thursday.
Maria now had sustained winds of 70 mph as of 11 a.m. Thursday (Sept. 15), and the National Hurricane Center predicted they will increase beyond the 74 mph threshold for hurricanes later on Thursday.
The storm was passing within 200 miles of Bermuda on Thursday morning. It is on a track that will pass about 500 miles to the east when it crosses Ocean City's latitude early Thursday evening.
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No wind or rain from Maria will reach Ocean City. But swells from the distant storm are expected to reach the New Jersey coastline sometime on Thursday.
As of noon, the waves were not substantially bigger than normal. But the potential remains for rapidly building surf as the storm approaches.
Find out what's happening in Ocean Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
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