Danny hits dry air; forecast weakens it

Tropical Storm Danny is meeting some turbulence on its trek toward the Lesser Antilles as dry, dusty air gets sucked into the cyclone, possibly weakening it.

Danny, which was forecast Tuesday to reach Category 2 status with sustained winds of 100 mph, is now expected to stay a Category 1 storm with winds reaching 75 mph Friday.

The storm still could bulk up to 85 mph winds Saturday — still a Category 1 — before weakening to a tropical storm again Monday. Follow weather reporter Kimberly Miller’s updates on twitter and at The Post’s WeatherPlus blog at

If National Hurricane Center predictions hold true, Danny will become the first hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season.

“The storm still has a long way to go and will encounter a lot of dry air and wind shear,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Becky Elliot.

“Models do show the storm heading toward the Lesser Antilles, but that is about as far out as confidence goes in terms of the forecast track,” Elliot said.

The storm, which was packing sustained 50 mph winds Wednesday evening, was moving west at 10 mph.

According to the National Hurricane Center’s 5 p.m. forecast Wednesday, satellite images were showing a collapse in Danny’s deep convection and a “loss of organization.”

Danny is also expected to confront stronger wind shear as it heads into the Caribbean Sea — a weather pattern that has been knocking the tops off tropical systems all summer.

Still, Danny remains over Atlantic waters that are sufficiently warm to support strengthening.

Most computer models showed the storm Wednesday evening taking a slight northwesterly track through the Leeward Islands and scooting over, or just north of, Puerto Rico.