Ophelia strengthens into a category 2 hurricane, expected to impact British Isles as a post-tropical cyclone
Hurricane Ophelia has continued to strengthened today, and is now a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale over the subtropical eastern Atlantic, a rare location for an Atlantic hurricane this intense. Ophelia is likely near or at its peak intensity, and a slow weakening trend is likely to begin tomorrow as it moves into a higher shear environment and waters cool. However, baroclinic forcing should allow Ophelia to retain hurricane-force winds through the weekend. As of 11:00…