Your Cruise Your Way Cruise Blog

If you are cruising this weekend, contact your cruise line or travel agent for the latest itinerary changes due to Tropical Storm Noel in the Caribbean. Carnival and Royal Caribbean have posted notices on their sites, and NCL is sure to follow soon. If the ship is delayed returning to its home port, that will affect the departure time of the next cruise. With transportation to and from the ports as an issue, find out your status as soon as possible so you can alter your plans accordingly. This is the latest weather report from weather.com

At 2 pm Wednesday (Eastern time), Tropical Storm Noel was located about 175 miles south-southwest of Nassau, Bahamas. Maximum winds remain near 50 miles per hour. Noel has temporarily stalled out near the north coast of Cuba. Minimum central pressure is 996 millibars.

Noel is expected to slide toward Andros Island in the Bahamas tonight, then track through the northwest Bahamas on Thursday. That said, Noel is an asymmetric system, with most of the significant rainfall on its eastern flank. Therefore, expect period of heavy rain and squalls in the central Bahamas, including Nassau.

Noel is expected to transition to an extratropical low either late Thursday night or early Friday morning. It is possible that Noel’s remnants could become a strong extratropical system and impact the Canadian Maritimes over the weekend.

Tropical storm warnings continue for the central and northwestern Bahamas, and parts of central and eastern Cuba.

Noel continues to produce heavy rain over Hispaniola, the southern Bahamas, and eastern Cuba. Storm total rainfall amounts over Hispaniola could range between 20 and 30 inches, which would likely cause devastating mud slides and flash flooding. Rainfall amounts between 5 to 10 inches, with local amounts up to 15 inches, are possible over eastern Cuba and the southern Bahamas.

Gusty winds will continue along the Southeast coast of the U.S. due to the pressure gradient between Noel and strong high pressure over the Mid-Atlantic States. Gale warnings are posted from Flagler Beach southward through the Upper Florida Keys. High surf advisories remain in effect from near St. Simons Island southward through Homestead, Florida.