Hurricane Earl sped toward the east over the North Atlantic Ocean south of Newfoundland on Saturday morning. At 5:00 a.m. EDT on Saturday the center of Hurricane Earl was located at latitude 41.2°N and longitude 53.5°W which put it about 380 miles (610 km) south of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Earl was moving toward the northeast at 35 m.p.h. (56 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 105 m.p.h. (165 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 125 m.p.h. (200 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 955 mb.

Hurricane Earl was making a transition to an extratropical cyclone on Saturday morning. An upper level trough over eastern Canada was producing strong southwesterly winds that were blowing toward the top of Earl’s circulation. Those winds were causing strong vertical wind shear. The wind shear was causing the eyewall around the eye at the center of Hurricane Earl to become fragmented. The eyewall was broken on the southwestern side of the eye. There were still thunderstorms in the northeastern remnant of the eyewall. Bands of showers and thunderstorms in the northeastern part of Earl’s circulation revolved around the center of Earl. Bands in the southwestern part of Hurricane Earl consisted primarily of showers and lower clouds.

Hurricane Earl was almost as large as Hurricane Sandy was in 2012. Winds to hurricane force extended out 90 miles (145 km) from the center of Earl’s circulation. Winds to tropical storm force extended out 415 miles (675 km) from the center of circulation. The Hurricane Intensity Index (HII) was 17.8. The Hurricane Size Index (HSI) was 32.4 and the Hurricane Wind Intensity Size Index (HWISI) was 50.2.

Hurricane Earl will complete the transition to a strong extratropical cyclone during the next 24 hours. Earl will move over water where the Sea Surface Temperatures are colder than 26˚C. The trough over eastern Canada will continue to cause strong vertical wind shear. The colder water and strong vertical wind shear will cause Earl’s structure to compete the transition to an extratropical cyclone.

The westerly winds in the middle latitudes will steer the extratropical cyclone toward the east during the next few days. The extratropical cyclone will weaken gradually over the North Atlantic Ocean south of Greenland during the next week.