HURRICANE DEAN Update 05:30 Hrs USA CDT 16 August 2007
As anticipated, Tropical Storm Dean was upgraded to HURRICANE DEAN within the past 8 hours. This storm is currently 450 miles east of Barbados moving in a westerly direction at just over 20 miles per hour. The central core winds have been monitored at 77 miles per hour sustained, with gusting to near 90 miles per hour. HURRICAN DEAN is expected to maintain it's direction and forward speed and eventually develop into a MAJOR Hurricane (Catagory 3 or higher) as it approaches and then passes the Lesser Antillies and Hispaniola. Persons throughout those areas are being advised to prepare for hurricane force winds, storm surge, wave action and torrential rains. especially from the northeastern quadrant of the storm.
This Hurricane will be entering the Caribbean Sea early Friday, August 17. It will then continue to move westerly with a slight northward jog by Saturday and into Sunday. It will be located near the Mexican Yucatan Penninsula (Southern Gulf of Mexico) by roughly Tuesday, August 21 and will then be influenced by a weather system which will be coming into the southwestern United States by Wednesday. The timing of that influence is critical for the ultimate track of Hurricane Dean after Tuesday and Wednesday, August 21-22.
Persons along the entire Gulf Coast of the United States should have their Hurricane Preparedness and Evacuation plans in order and rehearsed. MANY variables still exist in determining the ultimate strength and track of DEAN, but this will be a major weather event and a very dangerous storm as it nears the US coastal areas late next week. Monitor your local NOAA and NWS official broadcasts as well as local media for advisories from your Emergency Operations Centers. Our next update will be posted at 05:30 AM, USA CDT on Friday, August 17.
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"THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL ADVISORY. These updates and advisories are based upon information from our own computer models, NOAA, Local Weather Data Centers, deep water Buoy Data, and other publicly available sources. FOR THE SAFETY OF YOUR PROPERTY AND PERSON, please refer to your Local, State, and Federal Authority updates for Official Advisories and Orders. For up to the minute advisories and official updates, it is essential that you monitor your local Emergency Government, NOAA and Local Media Broadcasts. Please do not make personal safety decisions based upon information presented here in this Unofficial Advisory."
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