It is very early on this warm Monday morning and the coffee is still brewing. Here is a quick briefing. There will be much information on this blog about Dean today and until he makes landfall supposedly on the Gulf Coast of Mexico Wednesday.
As of 4 am, Alabama time, these quick facts:
LOCATION
Latitude 17.7N, Longitude 80.7W or about 115 miles SSE of Grand Cayman and about 495 miles east of Belize City.
MOVEMENT
Toward the west at 21 mph. A WNW track is expected for the next 24 hours. This will bring the powerful hurricane to near the east coast of of the Yucatan Peninsula tonight.
WINDS
Sustained 150 mph. This is an increase from Sunday. Dean is a powerful Category four and is forecast to reach Category five within the next 24 hours.
Look at this projection for 06Z August 21 (1am, CDT, Tuesday)
Off the east coast of Yucatan:
Sustained wind 160 mph
Gusts 195 mph
NHC FORECAST TRACK
Has been rather consistent all along. Still shows Dean crossing the Bay of Campeche Wednesday (the Extreme SW Gulf of Mexico) and making landfall on the Mexican Gulf Coast at some point Wednesday far south of the USA border. But, remember significant errors can occur but it is looking moire and more like the US will be spared.
OTHER NOTES
Waves 12 feet high now extrend out more than 350 miles to the NE and SE of the center and 275 to the SW and NW.
HURRICANE WARNINGS NOW IN EFFECT
Coast of Belize
East Coast of Yucatan
Jamaica and the Cayman Islands (Jamaica warning will probably be lifted later this morning)
Stay with us for a lot more information. Look for the morning Video Discussion from James around 6 am. We will also include occasional spot reports. Busy, busy three days ahead.
