Hurricane Matthew

Hurricane Matthew has become a category 5 storm with 160 mph wind and a minimum central pressure of 941 mb. The wind speed doubled in 24 hours. At 11 PM EDT on September 29th, it was only an 80 mph storm. None of the models had indicated such a rapid strengthening.

Matthew is the first category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic in over 9 years. The last category 5 was Hurricane Felix in September of 2007. Felix made landfall in Nicaragua. The US hasn't been hit by a major hurricane since Wilma in 2005.

Matthew is located south of Haiti and moving westward. It will soon begin curving to the north as it moves toward an upper trough. Matthew will likely pass near Jamaica, and cross Cuba and move into the Bahamas. It's too early to tell if Matthew poses a threat to the US East Coast. It may depend in part on the behavior of a larger trough currently over the West Coast.