National Hurricane Center- Matthew Strengthening

...RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT FINDS MATTHEW STRENGTHENING NEAR
THE NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS...

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LOCATION...24.2N 77.1W
ABOUT 60 MI...95 KM SSE OF NASSAU
ABOUT 255 MI...410 KM SE OF WEST PALM BEACH FLORIDA
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...125 MPH...205 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...NW OR 320 DEGREES AT 12 MPH...19 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...944 MB...27.88 INCHES


WATCHES AND WARNINGS
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CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY:

The Hurricane Warning has been extended northward to Altamaha Sound,
Georgia, and the Hurricane Watch has been extended northward to
South Santee River, South Carolina.

National Hurricane Center- Matthew Strengthening

And that was two hours ago. Since then wind speeds have increased to 127 max sustained. I believe the next update will be around 8 am, see the article.

This stands to be a vicious storm with devastating potential for Florida and South Carolina. And it is projected to be a CAT 4 with winds up in the 130's when it hits. Let's keep this issue visible folks.

ETA: Just in the last minutes wind speeds have decreased somewhat, so it is fluctuating wildly. Down boy, down.

ETA2: 8:00 AM update:

800 AM EDT THU OCT 06 2016

...SEVERE HURRICANE MATTHEW APPROACHING ANDROS ISLAND IN
THE BAHAMAS...
...OUTER RAINBANDS ALREADY APPROACHING FLORIDA..

It might get even worse: according to the TV weather report this morning, some of the computer models have Matthew going up the Florida coast, and then circling back around to hit Florida again.

7AM CNN:

Hope people are smart enough to evacuate. It's going to be bad. Cat 4 and it may double back. There will be those who don't leave. I hope loss of life isn't much.

a reply to: EchoesInTime

It actually has just lost 10 mph in wind speed, and it's possible it could drop, instead of increase. Could hit land as a CAT 2, and let's hope the hell so.

a reply to: TrueAmerican

Red sprites generated above Matthew which makes this an unusual hurricane.

Spaceweather

originally posted by: tweetie
a reply to: TrueAmerican

Red sprites generated above Matthew which makes this an unusual hurricane.

Spaceweather

I'll just go ahead and say because I know it's coming....HAARP!

Any who....I hope there isn't too much loss of life....this is a nasty one.

a reply to: TrueAmerican

I certainly hope you are correct, but the National Hurricane Center and several other fairly reliable meteorological sources I follow (such as Dr. Jeff Masters on weatherunderground.com) are predicting Cat 4 if it makes landfall in Florida. Maybe Cat 2 if it comes ashore further north, but for now, the outlook for the east coast of Florida is not good.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Thanks for the laugh! Our planet's atmospheric layers are certainly highly charged as evidenced by all of these special effects we see posted.

I'm in the projected landfall path, right near Cape Canaveral. The barrier islands, including Merritt Island all had a mandatory evac, and a lot of people left. Today, even more people are realizing this is no joke and are heading to families or shelters. No hotels available from Orlando to Tallahassee for the most part.

Closely following both the NHC from NOAA as well as wunderground tracks, and looking at the Recon data. It's going to be a hell of a storm, and a lot of people in low income areas around me are not going or don't have the ability to leave. I am staying to take care of both my animals that won't be able to evacuate as well as my neighbors who don't have the chance or means to prepare correctly.

Luckily I am a semi-prepper and have 40+ gallons saved plus lots of food, and am hoping to help as many people as I can.

So far, still holding steady with max wind speed I can find at about 118 to 119. Here, keep refreshing the page and monitor yourselves in near real time:

earth.nullschool.net...

The outer wall has lost like 20, and I can only find 118 or so at one spot along the right inner wall. But the next 6 hours will be crucial to see what's going to happen with this thing. It could die down considerably. That's what I'm hoping for.

The amount of strengthening will depend on a lot of things: water temps, land masses and wind shear.

As the eye moves over more open water that is warm, it's the primary energy force for any hurricane. It's predicted to reach Cat 4 by the time it gets to Florida's coast (and My kids had better stay safe down there).

If it sticks to most of the current modeling tracks, with the eye staying over open water, it will start to loose strength as it moves north due to the water being colder, so that we're looking at at Cat 3 to 2 storm once it gets off the coast of my state here in South Carolina.

What gets me is the long range tracks showing it then looping around, headed south, getting it's strength back and coming back at Florida again.

a reply to: TrueAmerican

What's going on with Tropical Storm Nicole? All the coverage is about Matthew. Just wondering where it's heading and if it could merge with Matthew.

a reply to: EchoesInTime

For right now Nicole looks like she is just going to meander.

Intellicast

Nicole just seems to be wandering around south of Bermuda. The long-range forecast has it eventually heading north across Bermuda. It looks like they're expecting it to stay a tropical storm.

originally posted by: tweetie
a reply to: EchoesInTime

For right now Nicole looks like she is just going to meander.

Intellicast

Thank you for the link. I was just concerned about the systems possibly merging.

a reply to: EchoesInTime

It does seem like a possibility if conditions become favorable for that to occur. I was thinking about it, too.

a reply to: FightingBuddha

Screw the supplies!

I hope your dwelling is secure is all. Storms like this can have average speeds which are terrifying but the potential for speeds outside and above that average are a real threat. I just hope you have solid perimeter defences against this sort of assault is all! Stay safe, look out for your people. God bless to you and yours.

a reply to: FightingBuddha

If you lose power and communication ability, please let us know how you are as soon as possible. If you don't lose those things, please let us know what's happening. Thank you!!

Yeah it is getting more and more intense as the time goes by. Seem to be looking at a direct impact at or very near our home. Thanks for the support guys and gals, I'll do my best to keep this thread updated and I'll try to post some pictures and videos as time goes by!

The latest 11am track puts it directly on our heads with 140 sustained winds. Pressure is finally stabilizing so hopefully not too much more strengthening. There is a big difference between 150 gusts to 175 gusts, so we'll keep hoping for the best.