Is it unusual for a storm to move this slowly?
Not at all. Storms slow down for a turn and when they altogether lose steering currents. The storms known for their devastating flooding were pokey or stalled over an area for an extended period.
What made Dorian stall over the Bahamas?
By Judson Jones, CNN Meteorologist Sep 2, 2019 Updated 1
Hurricane Dorian’s movement has slowed to 1 mph, less than the speed at which most of us walk.
The slowdown means the island of Grand Bahama could be in Dorian’s eye for more than nine hours.
This snail’s pace is not unheard of with hurricanes.
Recent hurricanes Harvey and Florence also slowed significantly after making landfall.
But the landfall wasn’t what slowed down Dorian — it has to do with what is steering the storm.
A high-pressure system over the western Atlantic is blocking it from moving northward, and a weakness in the high-pressure system is slowing it down.
At some point over the next 24 hours, the system will weaken enough that the hurricane will move northwest.
Yes it is VERY unusual according to weather reporter. That poor island has had the Cat. 4 or 5 eyewall (the ring around the eye) parked in one place for over a day. What will be left after sustained winds of 170 mph for 24 hours??? We will be seeing some photos of severe devastation soon. Called my son living just south of San Juan, PR, and he was breathing a great sigh of relief that Dorian had passed by off shore and with a low Category. He was there for Maria, but in a strong concrete building. His PR wife had laid in a good supply of bottled water and food for Maria.