AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTERS FIND SAM FLUCTUATING IN STRENGTH

National Hurricane Centre Forecaster Brown 5am Advisory.

At 500 AM AST (0900 UTC), the center of Hurricane Sam was located near latitude 18.9 North, longitude 56.2 West. Sam is moving toward the northwest near 9 mph (15 km/h), and this general motion with an increase in forward speed is expected during the next couple of days.  A turn toward the north is forecast by Friday.  On the forecast track, Sam will pass well to the east and northeast of the northern Leeward Islands through tonight.

Data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that the maximum sustained winds are near 130 mph (215 km/h) with higher gusts.  Sam is a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.  Some fluctuations in intensity are expected during the next couple of days, but Sam is forecast to remain a major hurricane through late this week.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 40 miles (65 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 125 miles (205 km).

The latest minimum central pressure estimated from reconnaissance aircraft data is 950 mb (28.06 inches).

𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘁𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗗𝗠 𝗮𝗽𝗽 , 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸, 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺, 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝘄𝘄.𝗯𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗺.𝗰𝗼𝗺/ 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀.

𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙧: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 (𝘿𝘿𝙈) 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙈𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙤𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙊𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝘿𝙈 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨. 𝘽𝙮 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝘿𝘿𝙈 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙑𝙄 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨, 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚..