The eye of extremely dangerous Hurricane Dean is moving along the southern coast of Jamaica this evening.
This puts the island in the extremely dangerous right semicricle of the hurricane. The entire island is engulfed in the massive eyewall of the hurricane.
Listening to the radio from Jamaica on the internet is frightening and comforting at the same time. The announcer sounds so calm and reassuring. They are playing the national anthem for listeners to sing along in prayer for their company. The Jamaican national anthem is apparently a prayer.
Our prayers are with the people of Jamaica, the Caymans and Yucatan tonight.
The reporter says it is dark and the winds are violent right now. But the barometer is rising there in Kingston as the center starts to move away from them.
THE LATEST ON DEAN…AT 7 PM CDT…
LOCATION: 17.5N/77.8W or 70 MILES WSW KINGSTON/265 MILES ESE GRAND CAYMAN
MOVEMENT: W-20
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS: 145 MPH
CENTRAL PRESSURE: 930 MB
AT 800 PM EDT…0000Z…THE CENTER OF HURRICANE DEAN WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 17.5 NORTH…LONGITUDE 77.8 WEST OR ABOUT 70 MILES…
115 KM…WEST-SOUTHWEST OF KINGSTON JAMAICA AND ABOUT 265
MILES…425 KM…EAST-SOUTHEAST OF GRAND CAYMAN.
Convection appears to be increasing on the infrared satellite. Dean could be intensifying.
No wind observations have been received since 4 p.m. CDT when sustained winds were reported to be 81 mph. We have a report of a wind gust to 138 mph along with sustained winds of 114 mph in Kingston at 5 p.m..
Read some dramatic blog posts on StormCARIB from Jamaica here.
Here is the Cuban radar…
Here is the latest satellite…
Weather will worsen on Grand Cayman and the other islands of the Cayman Islands overnight. Hurricane warnings are in effect. It is the relative calm before the storm right now, with east winds at 15 mph, mostly cloudy skies, temp/dp of 87F/78F and a pressure of 29.80 inches.
An Air Force plane is enroute to the hurricane now.
