(National Hurricane Center)
MIAMI — Rain from Tropical Storm Philippe has eased up in Florida but continues to batter the northwestern Bahamas.
The National Hurricane Center said in its 8 a.m. advisory that the storm’s center was located about 55 miles (90 kilometers) north of Freeport, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph).
Philippe is expected to produce 1 to 3 inches of additional rain accumulations over the northern Bahamas and eastern Cuba. The rainfall could cause flash flooding, especially in urban areas and in mountainous areas of Cuba.
Tropical storm watches and warnings were discontinued for Florida on Sunday. The National Weather Service says showers were to end Sunday morning as a cold front moves through South Florida.
Philipe is not expected to become a hurricane but will produce average rainfall totals of 2-4 inches throughout the region, and up to 8 inches in isolated areas of the Northeast and New England, forecasters said.
Wind gusts could reach speeds of 50-60 mph.
The storm is expected to continue to move northeast, strengthen and essentially merge with a low pressure system coming from the Great Lakes region. The result will be a nor’easter-type storm producing high wind and rain for parts of eastern New York and New England late Sunday into Monday.
