RICHMOND, Va. -- The storm called Matthew has gone through an immense intensification in just a few days. It formed as a tropical storm on Wednesday, became a hurricane Thursday, and grew to a category five hurricane during the day Friday.
This is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which ranks hurricanes according to intensity:
Wind speeds dropped slightly on Saturday, making it a high-end category four hurricane. A tightly-packed storm, hurricane-force winds extend 25 miles from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds (39 mph or higher) extend 205 miles from the center. Here are the Saturday 11 P.M. advisory stats:
Matthew came to a halt late Saturday afternoon, but has resumed a north-northwest movement at 7 mph. It is expected to turn north on Monday and the forecast will take the center between southwest Haiti and eastern Jamaica, so the island will feel the brunt of the western half of the hurricane on Monday. The storm will then head to eastern Cuba on Tuesday, then reach the Bahamas by Wednesday. Rainfall amounts over ten inches will be likely, but certain areas could see up to two feet of rainfall. This will cause flash flooding and mud slides.
After that point, there is still a lot of uncertainty. Computer model solutions range from a landfall along the Mid-Atlantic coast (including the Outer Banks) to the storm heading more towards Bermuda. The consensus of the models have the center of the storm just off the east coast by late in the week.
A lot will change with the forecast track over the next few days, so do not get set on any one possibility just yet. More information is available in the CBS 6 Hurricane Tracker.
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