Over the course of the last day, Hurricane Matthew has grown tremendously into a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 160 mph over the southeastern Caribbean Sea.  Very warm sea surface temperatures in the region are contributing to the rapid growth and will continue to affect it for the next few days.  While most of the computer paths predict that it will take a right turn on its current WNW motion and keep it off the East Coast, there is enough uncertainty that anyone along the east coast of Florida or the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas should be watching it closely.  Later computer models have been moving the path slightly westward so that now Miami is in the cone of Matthew’s probable path.

Jamaica is directly in the projected path of the storm and a major hurricane hit there will cause tremendous damage, probably on the day on Monday.  Southern Florida could start to see the effects of the storm on Tuesday and other parts of the Southeast later in the week as the storm moves north along whatever its final path is.

Ironically, the circulation around the storm will pull dry air from the northeast through inland parts of the Southeast, meaning that those areas will see little to no rain in the next week, especially in the areas that are currently being affected by the drought.

Check https://www.hurricanes.gov for updated information and your local NWS office for detailed forecasts for your area.

matthew-9-30-2016

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