Image Credit: Plymouth State University

Hurricane Fabian, the 10th Tropical system in the Atlantic basin of the 2003 season, is poised to pass perilously close to Bermuda. At 11AM EDT on this date, the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida indicated the wind speed of Fabian to be 105 knots, with higher gusts. An additional threat from Hurricanes come in the form of a Tornado. One of the signs of good news for Bermuda at this time, is that the occurrence of a Tornado is somewhat lower than most land-falling Hurricanes.
Some data gathered in the past indicates that the increase in surface roughness of winds over land vs. winds over water causes added convergence, leading to Tornadogenesis (to form a Tornado). Since Bermuda is only 19 square miles, the relative impact in Tonadogensis of surface roughness should be small. The East wall of Fabian is expected to track very closely to the island; the East wall of a Hurricane is typically home to the strongest winds and highest storm-surge.