This storm has gone from TS with gusts to 49 mph to at Cat 2 with sustained100 mph winds..all this in the past 24 or so hours. Felix is predicted to become a Cat 3 within the next 24 hours
At this time the storm is north of the ABC islands. Jamaica is under TS warnings. Hopefully the storm will stay well south of the island
FELIX IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 18 MPH...30
KM/HR...AND A WEST-NORTHWESTWARD OR WESTWARD MOTION IS EXPECTED
OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. ON THIS TRACK THE CENTER OF FELIX WILL BE
PASSING JUST NORTH OF ARUBA DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS...AND INTO
THE OPEN WATERS OF THE CENTRAL CARIBBEAN SEA LATER TODAY AND
TONIGHT.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 100 MPH...160 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. FELIX IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON
SCALE. STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST...AND FELIX COULD BECOME A
MAJOR HURRICANE DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 15 MILES...30 KM...FROM
THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 115
MILES...185 KM.
A NOAA HURRICANE HUNTER PLANE JUST REPORTED A MINIMUM CENTRAL
PRESSURE OF 981 MB...28.97 INCHES.
Hurricane Felix
Man, this is a bad time to live in Mexico! They're getting whacked on the west side by TS Henriette, and here comes Felix on their east.
...AND THERE IS CERTAINLY THE POTENTIAL FOR US TO HAVE ANOTHER CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE ON OUR HANDS BEFORE ALL IS SAID AND DONE.
Yikes...
Cnn Breaking News: Hurricane Felix has strengthened into a Category 5 storm, with winds near 165 mph, the National Hurricane Center says.
Unbelievable...yesterday this was upgraded to a Tropical Storm
NHC: MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 165 MPH...270 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. FELIX IS A CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON
SCALE. SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN INTENSITY ARE TO BE EXPECTED OVER THE
NEXT 24 HOURS.
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 25 MILES...35 KM...FROM
THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 115
MILES...185 KM.
THE LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE ESTIMATED FROM RECONNAISSANCE
DATA IS 934 MB...27.58 INCHES.
FELIX IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES
OVER THE GUAJIRA PENINSULA OF NORTHERN COLOMBIA
Man.. It strengthened amazingly fast!! I'm praying for the folks in Central America where this is going to come ashore tomorrow. It may or may not pop back out into the Gulf afterwards... They've already moved the projected path a little farther south of the one Floridian posted.
Wow...they said we would have another bad year and it continues!
I remember H. Carla as a child. We lived in Edna, Texas (about 40 miles from the coast) and actually traveled inland another few miles to get to my grandparents' house. The winds were so severe that a tree fell on a corner of their house, and when we got home our entire ceiling in most of the house was wet and caved in from water blowing in from the opening near the roof....don't think they build houses like that now. There were louvers that were in a triangle shape close to the hip of the roof, for purposes of ventilation, BUT they let in all the water also.
Surely bad news for Belize. They were saying they needed help from Dean - and here they are getting another one..
And That track they show for Felix is gonna take the remnants across where Henriette is right now in Mexico.
We almost lost a hurricane hunter plane last night. It flew into the NW eye wall just as Felix was revving back up to a Cat 5. They caught a tremendous updraft, then a downdraft that almost slammed them into the ocean. They pulled out and landed in St Croix to asses the damage. This is the same plane that took a similar hit flying into Hurricane Hugo.
Randy Bynon was on the plane that took over, and he posted some awesome pictures. This one was a moon shot as they flew into the eye. You can see the tip of the plane wing in the lower left hand corner.
We owe so much to these brave people!
Pati
Praise God they were able to land safely, Pati! Wow.. that's an amazing shot, too.
I just love that shot! The eyewall was 17 miles across. I guess I have so much interest in the hunter planes because my cousin flew in them. I always loved to hear the stories when he came back from a mission.
His wife said when he got home he would crawl into bed still in his orange jumpsuit and it would be an hour before the bed stopped shaking. They are brave because they can overcome fear to do their jobs, and believe me, they all know fear!
When he transferred out of the planes, he went to New Mexico and worked in a cave monitering the world for underground nuclear testing. That was as far as he could get from a plane! LOL
Pati
Pati
Thanks for keeping us up to date Pati, Never have seen such a pic before. makes the eye wall look darn solid don't it.? Those poor folks in the hills that are getting all the rain are in awful trouble.