1. Winds at Bermuda will subside overnight, and the Tropical Storm Warning for that island has been discontinued.

2. Dangerous and potentially life-threatening surf and rip currentsare expected along the coasts of Bermuda, the Bahamas, the GreaterAntilles, the Leeward Islands, the east coast of the United States,and Atlantic Canada during the next couple of days.

CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY:

The Bermuda Weather Service has discontinued the Tropical Storm Warning for Bermuda.

SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:

There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

WIND: Winds at Bermuda will subside overnight.

SURF: Large swells generated by Epsilon will affect Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, the Leeward Islands, the east coast of the United States, and Atlantic Canada during the next few days. These swells are likely to cause lifethreatening surf and rip current conditions. Please consult products from your local weather office.

At 1100 PM AST (0300 UTC), the center of Hurricane Epsilon was located near latitude 32.6 North, longitude 61.6 West. Epsilon is moving toward the northnorthwest near 9 mph (15 km/h). A generally northward motion with increasing forward speed is expected through early Saturday, with an even faster motion toward the northeast later that day. The center of Epsilon will be moving away from Bermuda overnight.

Maximum sustained winds are near 85 mph (140 km/h) with higher gusts. Some fluctuations in strength are expected for the next day or two before gradual weakening begins by late Saturday.

Hurricaneforce winds extend outward up to 15 miles (30 km) from the center and tropicalstormforce winds extend outward up to 240 miles (390 km).

The estimated minimum central pressure is 968 mb (28.59 inches).

The eye became a little more apparent on satellite images but recently has become less defined. The system has a somewhat ragged-looking Central Dense Overcast with a broad outer cloud band wrapping around the western semicircle of the circulation. Upper-level outflow is fairly well-defined over the northern portion of the system. The current intensity estimate is kept at 75 kt in agreement with a Dvorak estimate from TAFB and objective ADT estimates from UW-CIMSS. Since Epsilon should be passing near a modestly warm oceanic eddy during the next day or so, some slight short-term restrengthening is allowed for in the official forecast. Later in the forecast period, gradual weakening should occur due to cooler waters, but the system is likely to remain a strong cyclone for the next few days. By around 72 hours, the GFS and SHIPS guidance indicates that Epsilon will have undergone extratropical transition over the north Atlantic. Afterward, the global models show the system merging with another cyclone at the higher latitudes.

Epsilon continues to move just a bit to the west of due north, orat about 345/8 kt. The cyclone is expected to move mainlynorthward on the western side of a mid-tropospheric ridge duringthe next couple of days. By around 48 hours, Epsilon shouldturn northeastward and accelerate as it becomes caught up inthe mid-latitude westerlies. The official track forecast isnot much different from the previous one, and is very close tothe latest corrected dynamical consensus, HCCA, prediction.

The forecast wind radii, which show the cyclone expanding over thenext few days, are in good agreement with the dynamical consensusradii guidance, RVCN.