There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

SURF: Swells generated by Larry are expected to reach the Lesser Antilles on Sunday. Significant swells will likely reach Bermuda and the eastern United States coastline after Labor Day. These swells are likely to cause life threatening surf and rip current conditions. Please consult products from your local weather office.

At 500 PM AST (2100 UTC), the center of Hurricane Larry was located near latitude 15.0 North, longitude 42.0 West. Larry is moving toward the west northwest near 16 mph (26 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue over the weekend. A turn to the northwest is forecast by early next week. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 100 mph (155 km/h) with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next few days, and Larry is forecast to become a major hurricane this weekend. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 35 miles (55 km) from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 150 miles (240 km). The estimated minimum central pressure is 978 mb (28.88 inches).

Over the course of the day, Larry's appearance has become more impressive. The eye has been gradually becoming better defined on visible satellite imagery as the center cloud top temperature has been warming on the infrared channel. Several microwave passes have been received since the last advisory. The most recent pass at 1900 UTC suggested the eye and surrounding eyewall convection is becoming better defined, though still weaker on the east side. 1800 UTC subjective Dvorak classifications were still both CI 4.5/77 kt from TAFB and SAB. However, the objective satellite estimates have been rising quickly, with the most recent UW-CIMSS SATCON estimate up to 84 kt. Thus, the NHC advisory intensity has been raised to 85 kt for this advisory, making Larry a category 2 hurricane.

Larry's motion has remained fairly steady to the west-northwest throughout the day, at 285/14 kt. The latest track reasoning remains unchanged, with Larry being steered to the west-northwest around the southern periphery of an expansive mid-level ridge centered north of the hurricane. This ridge axis will gradually become oriented to the northeast of Larry with time, allowing the tropical cyclone to gradually gain more latitude. Because the ridge is quite large, even as its axis shifts eastward, a portion of the ridge will still remain to the north of the storm. The end result is that Larry should only slowly gain a more poleward component of motion as the system also gradually slows down. While the track guidance spread remains small for the first 48-60 hours of the forecast, a bit more longitudinal spread becomes apparent thereafter, which appears related to how much mid-level ridging remains poleward of the cyclone. The latest 12z ECMWF run has a distinctly stronger ridge, oriented more poleward in comparison to the 12z GFS run. Thus, it is not surprising to see that the ECMWF track is a bit further west and slower than the GFS. The latest NHC track forecast this cycle was also adjusted a bit slower, following the TVCN and HCCA consensus aids. However, it is interesting to note the latest 12z ECMWF ensembles are even slower than this track forecast, and future slower adjustments may be needed if these track solutions verify. It remains too soon to determine what impacts Larry may pose to the Island of Bermuda, but interests there should monitor updates in the forecast in the subsequent days.

With the recent improvement in Larry's structure on satellite imagery, the hurricane may be starting another rapid intensification (RI) cycle, as suggested by the high RI probabilities given in the DTOPS guidance. However, the earlier microwave data also suggested that there were a lot of concentric bands outside of the primary eyewall, and it is not out of the question that another eyewall replacement cycle could begin in the next 24-36 hours. Instead of attempting to forecast these often stochastic processes, the latest NHC intensity forecast will instead show a healthy rate of deepening over the next several days, now taking Larry to 120 kt in 48 hours. Afterwards, there still remain questions as to how much the vertical wind shear will increase over Larry, with the ECMWF-SHIPS indicating higher shear that could affect Larry's inner-core structure, while the GFS-SHIPS showing much lower shear. Warmer sea-surface temperatures also await the hurricane in the 60-96 hour period. Due to these competing factors, the intensity forecast during this period will only show very gradual weakening. The latest NHC intensity forecast remains on the high end of the guidance, but still remains lower than the higher HAFS-B and COAMPS-TC models. It should be noted that the majority of the guidance also shows Larry becoming a very large hurricane, with a significant expansion of the 34-, 50-, and 64-kt wind radii also forecast.

Significant ocean swells generated by the increasingly large wind field of Larry are expected to reach the Lesser Antilles on Sunday, increasing the risk of life-threatening rip currents and high surf conditions on those islands early next week. Large swells are likely to spread to areas surrounding the western Atlantic later in the week as well.