Hurricanes

Ernesto is not going to be a problem in terms of high winds, although force 8 to 10 is bad enough. This tropical storm is going to dump 5 to 15 inches (125 to 375 mm) of rain on southern and central Florida - within 24 hours. Furthermore, after passing into the Atlantic over NE Florida, Ernesto might intensify to a category 1 hurricane before making landfall in the Carolinas. It will shed its tropical features and become a normal low pressure system, but the eastern USA can expect a couple of very wet and windy days.

John is turning into a major hurricane, with windspeeds of 125 mph southwest of Acapulco in Mexico. The system is going to batter the length of the Mexican coastline with at least tropical storm force winds (force 8 to 11), not to mention the rainfall. Baja California will get an unwelcome visitor on Friday.

Ioke, to complete the illustrious trio, is still around in the Western Pacific. It is going to hammer Wake Island late on Thursday (local time) with winds of 160 mph, gusting to 190 mph. It was forecast to weaken, but tropical hurricanes do what they like. Ioke seems to be making for Japan, but that's a long way off.