…Poorly organized Franklin drifting westward…
A Tropical Storm Watch remains in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands.
A Tropical Storm Watch that Tropical Storm conditions could be experienced within the Turks and Caicos Islands within 48 hours.
At 8 am EDT, the center of Tropical Storm Franklin was located near latitude 14.6 degrees north and longitude 70.7 degrees west, or 460 miles south of Cockburn Town, Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands.
Tropical Storm Franklin is drifting toward the northwest near 3 miles per hour. The system should turn northward today, and a generally northward motion is expected on Wednesday. On the forecast track, the center of Franklin is forecast to reach the southern coast of Hispaniola on Wednesday, traverse the island and move off the northern coast on Thursday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 50 miles per hour with higher gusts. Some strengthening is forecast before Franklin reaches Hispaniola.
Tropical Storm force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the center.
Residents in the Turks and Caicos Islands should begin to make preparation for the possibility of Tropical Storm conditions beginning late Wednesday night.
Franklin is expected to produce rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches, with isolated higher amounts of 4 inches over the most easterly islands.
