Is Emily Next to Target U.S.?

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.

On the heels of Dennis, Tropical Storm Emily had 60 mph winds early Wednesday morning and was continuing on its path into the Caribbean. The National Weather Service reported at 5 a.m. its eye was 260 miles southeast of Barbados at latitude 11.1 north and longitude 56.3 west, moving westward at 10 mph, with a slight turn to the north expected later today.

An Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter aircraft was scheduled to report on the storm’s development later in the day.

High pressure north of Emily might keep the system’s path south of Florida, said James Franklin, hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami-Dade County. He said it’s too early to say for sure.

“At five days out, you hesitate to take anybody off the hook,” he said.

The hurricane center’s five-day forecast track shows the storm moving on a path similar to the one taken last week by Hurricane Dennis — northwest across the Caribbean, where it could affect Hispaniola, Jamaica and Cuba.

Projections of Emily’s path initially predicted it might hit the east coast of the United States; now they show it headed further west, with forecasts uncertain about where it will hit land. Forecasters predict the storm will soon develop into a hurricane and should make landfall Saturday in the Caribbean.