Here is the latest on Dean…10 p.m.

Dean now 11th strongest Atlantic hurricane in history…pressure down to 918 millibars…

FAST FACTS
at 10 p.m. CDT…
LOCATION…16.2N…71.7W…170 miles SSE of Port Au Prince and 365 miles ESE of Kingston in Jamaica.
MOVEMENT: W-17 mph
MAX WINDS: 145 mph (still category four)
CENTRAL PRESSURE: 918 mb/27.11 inches

Satellite imagery this evening shows that Hurricane Dean has become even better organized, with intensifying covection around the center. The overall cloud pattern has become more circular and less ragged looking. The central dense overcast is expanding.

Air Force reconnaissance found a very low central pressure of 918 mb just after 8 p.m. CDT. This ties Dean with Hurricane Hugo as the 11th strongest Atlantic hurricane.

But the plane did not find winds that correspond with this low pressure. They report the storm has a double eywall, which could explain this. But with the pressure that low, the winds could come back up at any time.

Thehurricane will be over very warm ocean waters until it gets to the Yucatan. Waters that are warm enough to support a category five hurricane. There have only been 29 category five hurricanes in Atlantic history. Dean will be number 30.

Hurricane warnings continue for the south coast of Hispaniola, Jamaica and now the Cayman Islands.

The eye of the hurricane is directly south of Hispaniola’s Barahona Peninsula by about 90 miles. Hurricane force winds extend out about 50 miles to the north, so they are probably just offshore of the southern coast of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

at 9 p.m. CDT, at Barahona near the South Coast of the Dominican Republic:
Wind ESE 14 mph
Visibility 4 miles in Rain
Temp/DP: 72F/78F
Pressure: 29.83

From Jamaica…Kingston reports…
Wind ESE 7 mph
Partly cloudy skies
Visibility 7 miles
Temp/DP: 84F/75F
Pressure: 29.83

The official track is shifted a little further south to account for the more westward motion. This may give Jamaica a little breathing room hopefully. It may also help the Caymans. It will be over the Yucatan longer with this track, which lowers the intensity over the SW Gulf. But the NHC cautions it will still be a major hurricane at final landfall.

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