DDM
Hurricane Sam expected to remain a major hurricane for the next several days. Still expected to pass at a safe distance away from the islandsโฆ
A tropical cyclone alert remains in effect for the Leeward Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ, ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฌ๐, ๐ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐. ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐ฑ๐ญ ๐๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ.
Based on current information and analysis, hurricane Sam is still expected to pass at a safe distance away from the Leeward Islands and British Virgin Islands between Tuesday and Wednesday with little or no wind and weather impact to the islands. Swells associated with Sam could impact coastal areas as early as Wednesday to produce dangerous surfs and rip currents.
At 500 am ast (0900 utc), the center of Hurricane Sam was located near latitude 15.2 north, longitude 51.4 west or ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ-๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฌ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ.
Sam is moving toward the northwest near 8 mph (13 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue for the next few days, with an increase in forward speed beginning on Thursday.
Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 130 mph with higher gusts. Sam is a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. Little chance in strength is expected during the next day or so. Thereafter, some slow weakening is forecast through midweek, although Sam should remain a major hurricane.
Sam is a small hurricane. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles (45 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles (165 km).
The estimated minimum central pressure is 952 mb (28.12 inches).