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Nicole hits Bermuda as a category 3 hurricane

Posted at 1:52 PM, Oct 13, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-13 13:58:14-04

RICHMOND, Va. — The center of Hurricane Nicole passed over part of Bermuda just before Noon (EDT) Thursday.  Sustained winds were 120 mph, which is a category three hurricane.

Here is a satellite & radar image from 11:45 a.m. EDT.  The red ring represents a 100 km range from the island, not the center.  The center of Nicole is indicated by the dark gray circle.

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Local observations from the Bermuda airport show the effects of the eye moving over the island:

9:55 am EDT — Easterly wind at 77 mph, gust 103 mph

11:09 am EDT — Northerly wind at 14 mph

Don Dahler, from CBS News, reported live from Bermuda on Thursday morning:  http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/hurricane-nicole-takes-direct-aim-at-bermuda/ He mentions that Bermuda was spared from the full brunt of the storm surge thanks to the reef protecting the island.

Nicole was a category four hurricane on Wednesday before the winds dropped slightly.  No category four hurricane has ever struck Bermuda, according to records back to 1899.

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Nicole will continue tracking northeast of the island.  It will weaken by early next week as it travels into the northern Atlantic Ocean.