Tropical Depression 9 forms, will approach Florida “at or near major hurricane strength”

Carter Mudgett, Editor in Chief
September 23, 2022

Forming in the Caribbean Sea early Friday morning, Tropical Depression Nine is expected to strengthen to a hurricane as it heads toward Florida, NOAA reported. 

Originally detected by the National Hurricane Center around 5 a.m., the most recent 11 a.m. report projects the depression to become a hurricane and approach Florida “at or near major hurricane strength.” 

However, the update did acknowledge that it is too soon to tell what the exact magnitude and impact will be.

At the time of writing, Tropical Depression Nine is south of the Dominican Republic and North of South America. It’s expected to be south of Jamaica around 8 a.m. on Sunday. 

Heavy rainfall, hurricane-force winds and significant impacts from storm surges are expected as the majority of Florida is within the current depression’s forecast cone. 

The depression is expected to approach Jamaica as a tropical storm on Sunday and the Cayman Islands as a hurricane on Monday. 

 Key messages for Tropical Depression Nine as of 11 a.m. according to NOAA.

Heavy rainfall, instances of flash flooding and possible mudslides are expected in areas of higher terrain in Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. The heavy rain is likely to spread into Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Cuba in the coming days. 

Spinnaker created an informational article on hurricanes earlier this year. Read it here. 

Follow along with NOAA’s updates on Tropical Depression 9 and other active storms here.

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