Bermuda faced 84mph sustained winds and 105mph gusts at the height of Hurricane Ernesto, as almost seven inches of rain fell over the weekend.

Summary statistics from the Bermuda Weather Service showed that tropical storm force winds officially reached Bermuda’s water around 1pm on Friday and could be felt across the island about 90 minutes later.

Waves outside Bermuda’s reefs were predicted to be between 40 and 45ft high, based off of data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) between Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Winds by the National Museum of Bermuda in Dockyard peaked at about 89mph around 2am on Saturday, just before landfall, and were accompanied by gusts of more than 109mph.

The LF Wade International Airport at the opposite end of the island recorded top wind speeds at 66mph, with 84mph gusts, around the same time.

By 3.30am, storm surges around Ferry Reach in St George’s were predicted to have been around 1.9ft.

The Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre, or Marops, at Fort George in St George’s picked up top wind speeds of 84mph and wind gusts of 105mph around 4am.

Hurricane Ernesto made landfall at 5.30am, with its eye predicted to have spent three hours passing over Bermuda based on timing of the lowest winds and pressures.

The weather system was moved north-northeast away from the island at 9mph by 9am.

Winds by the NMB after landfall peaked around 12.30pm at 74mph, with gusts of 89mph.

At the same time, wind speeds by the airport were peaking at about 59mph with gust speeds at more than 71mph.

Marops recorded top wind speeds of nearly 73mph at the same time, which were accompanied by 91mph wind gusts.

Tropical storm winds died at the airport around 1am on Sunday, while Marops reported that winds ceased there at around 3.30am.

Winds calmed down near the National Museum of Bermuda around 4am on Sunday and it is estimated that they ceased in nearby waters about an hour later.

The centre of the storm was 190 miles north-northeast of Bermuda by 6am.

During the week of Ernesto’s arrival, Bermuda experienced 17.28in of rain between last Tuesday and Sunday.

Before the storm hit, there was 0.91in of rainfall on Tuesday, 1.21in on Wednesday and 1.2in on Thursday.

By Friday, as Ernesto reached Bermuda, 5.44in of rain fell on the island. This was followed by 1.5in on Saturday and a steep drop to 0.04in on Sunday.

Hurricane Ernesto was the fifth named storm of the 2024 hurricane season, following Hurricanes Beryl and Debby and Tropical Storms Alberto and Chris.

At its peak, 28,817 Belco customers — about 75 per cent of the total number — lost power. However, by 6pm yesterday, only 1,693 were still without electricity.

Forecasters at Colorado State University originally predicted 23 named storms for the 2024, which started on June 1, including 11 hurricanes, five of which were expected to reach at least Category 3 strength.

However, in a revised forecast released by the CSU, it predicted 25 named storms, including 12 hurricanes, half of which would become major hurricanes.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, with the modern average of about 14 named storms, including seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

The National Hurricane Centre forecast an 85 per cent chance of a busier-than-average season with between 17 and 25 named storms, while Britain’s Met Office forecast 22 named storms during the season.