CAT 5 ISABEL, current stats, forecast and discussion!!!

[WXBUFFJIM]

Good evening everyone. Extremely dangerous Hurricane Isabel is now officially a catrgory 5 hurricane on the saffir simpson scale. This is the first time this has happened in the Atlantic Basin since Hurricane Mitch back in 1998 and deservely so given the perfect appearance on satellite imaginary. Everything that is needed for a category 5 hurricane is in place!!! It's breathtaking on satellite imaginary, but scary at the same time.

At 5 PM EDT, the center of dangerous Hurricane Isabel was located near latitude 21.6 north, longitude 55.3 west or about 500 miles east northeast of the northern leeward islands.

Isabel is moving towards the west at near 9 mph and this general motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours. On this track, the center of Isabel will pass north of the Leeward Islands and north of Puerto Rico over the next 2-3 days. However very high swells and dangerous rip currents will occur in the north facing beaches of those islands.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 160 mph with higher gusts. This makes Isabel a category 5 hurricane on the saffir simpson hurricane scale. Fluctuations in intensity are likely over the next 24 hours. Minimum central pressure is 921 millibars or 27.20 inches of mercury.

The future track of Isabel takes it on a westerly track for the next few days with a gradual turn to the west northwest possible. A ridge of high pressure continues to dominate north of the hurricane and will remain in place through the upcoming weekend. Thus the westerly track will likely continue!! All residents in the Bahamas and on the US southeast coast from Florida up to southeast Virginia need to monitor this hurricane very carefully early next week and beyond. Review for hurricane preparation is neccessary in case the potential increases for a significant fdirect hit type of landfall on the Bahamas and the southeast US coast.

More updates on this later!!!

[rainstorm]

thanks jim!!