Ernesto could bring big waves, rip currents to Mass.

BOSTON - Ernesto continues to slowly strengthen and is forecast to become a hurricane later Tuesday night or Wednesday, and in a few days Massachusetts will feel some impacts from the storm on the coast.

It is going to take a dramatic turn to the north in the next 24 hours and make a beeline for Bermuda.

Ernesto's storm path

Current forecasts bring the center of Ernesto very close to Bermuda Saturday morning as a Category 2 hurricane and there is a chance it could be even stronger than that.

Once it passes Bermuda it is then expected to gradually turn north-northeasterly, avoiding any sort of landfall in the northeastern U.S.

Ernesto spaghetti models

If we look at a spaghetti plot with a number of current weather model forecast tracks, the average distance from Boston is about 500 miles to the east.

This is, of course, good news for New England as we will almost certainly avoid any rain or wind associated with Ernesto.

There will be some impacts at our coastline. The Atlantic is going to become very angry as Ernesto approaches and eventually passes by.

We could easily see 5-10 foot waves at many of our beaches, especially over the Islands and Outer Cape Cod this weekend into early next week.

Just offshore, there could be swells of 10-20 feet.

We expect there to be numerous rip current/surf warnings starting as early as Friday or Saturday and continuing for several days.

Lastly, a reminder that hurricane season is just beginning. The majority of the action is likely to lie ahead. Peak tropical activity typically comes from late August through mid-October.