HURRICANE DEAN UPDATE, 05:30 Hrs USA CDT, August 18, 2007
Hurricane Dean, as anticipated, increased in strength to a very strong Category 4 storm overnight with sustained sea level winds at just over 150 miles per hour. [ Category 5, the highest category, starts at 156 miles per hour.]
The storm continues it's westward track through the central Caribbean Sea and is taking aim at Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. The forward speed has decreased to 17 miles per hour. This is significant because as it slows, it draws more and more energy from the warm waters and intensifies even more. This is also significant because an upper level low pressure area over Florida will be moving westerly in a couple of days. The counterclockwise rotation of the upper level low could change the track of Hurricane Dean starting Tuesday and Wednesday next week, to a more northerly track. This could possibly steer Dean into a US Gulf Coast landfall anywhere from west central Florida over to east central Texas. Again, timing on these two storm systems interacting with each other is critical.
We may post an update late Saturday afternoon August 18 - IF any major changes take place. Otherwise, we will post new information around 05:30 hrs. USA CDT, Sunday August 19. Please use the link below for official updates.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
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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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