HURRICANE MATTHEW: Eye of extremely dangerous storm over West End Grand Bahama
ALERT #42 ON HURRICANE MATTHEW ISSUED BY THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY THURSDAY 6TH OCTOBER, 2016 AT 9PM EDT.
… EYE OF EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE MATTHEW OVER THE WEST END GRAND BAHAMA…
A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS. THIS INCLUDES THE ISLANDS OF ELEUTHERA NEW PROVIDENCE, ANDROS, THE BERRY ISLANDS, BIMINI, ABACO AND GRAND BAHAMA.
A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE BEING EXPERIENCED OR EXPECTED OVER THE MENTIONED ISLANDS WITHIN 36 HOURS.
AT 8PM EDT, THE CENTER OF HURRICANE MATTHEW WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 26.6 DEGREES NORTH AND LONGITUDE 78.9 DEGREES WEST OR OVER WEST END, GRAND BAHAMA, 15 MILES WST-NORTHWEST OF FREEPORT GRAND BAHAMA, 88 MILES NORTHWEST OF GREAT HARBOUR CAY THE BERRY ISLANDS, 114 MILES WEST OF MARSH HARBOUR ABACO, 59 MILES NORTH-NORTHEAST OF BIMINI AND 143 MILES NORTHWEST NEW PROVIDENCE
MATTHEW IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 13 MPH. THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TONIGHT, WITH A TURN TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST EARLY FRIDAY. ON THIS PRESENT TRACK THE EYE OF HURRICANE MATTHEW SHOULD MOVE AWAY FROM GRAND BAHAMA DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 130 MILES PER HOUR WITH HIGHER GUSTS. MATTHEW IS A DANGEROUS CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE WIND SCALE. SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN INTENSITY ARE LIKELY WHILE THE HURRICANE MOVES AWAY FROM THE BAHAMAS
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 60 MILES FROM THE CENTER AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 185 MILES FROM THE CENTER.
TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS ARE NOW BEING EXPERIENCED IN BIMINI, ABACO, AND THE BERRY ISLANDS, WHILE HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ARE BEING EXPERIENCED IN GRAND BAHAMA. THESE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY SUBSIDE AS MATHEW MOVES AWAY FROM THE BAHAMAS.
MATTHEW IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES WITH ISOLATED TOTALS OF 15 INCHES IN THE BAHAMAS.
THE COMBINATION OF A DANGEROUS STORM SURGE AND LARGE AND DESTRUCTIVE WAVES COULD RAISE WATER LEVELS BY AS MUCH AS 10 TO 15 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS.
SMALL CRAFT OPERATORS THROUGHOUT THE BAHAMAS SHOULD REMAIN IN PORT AND SEEK SAFE HARBOUR FOR THEIR VESSELS AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE PROPERLY SECURED.
THE NEXT ALERT ON HURRICANE MATTHEW WILL BE ISSUED AT 12AM EDT FRIDAY
ISSUED BY: Jeffrey Simmons