Hurricane Matthew downgraded to Category 1, But remains dangerous through the Carolinas

Hurricane Matthew downgraded to Category 1, But remains dangerous through the Carolinas

Hurricane Matthew has been re-designated a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour.

As of 11:00 AM EST, October 8, 2016, the eye of Hurricane Matthew is moving toward the northeast near 12 mph, and this general motion is expected to continue today.  On the forecast track, the center of Matthew will continue to move near or over the coast of South Carolina today, and be near the coast of southern North Carolina by tonight.

Although weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours, Matthew is expected to remain near hurricane strength while the center is near the coasts of South Carolina and North Carolina. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 miles. Sustained winds of 53 mph with a gust to 69 mph has been observed at a private weather station near Winyah Bay, South Carolina, within the past hour. A wind gust to 58 mph was recently reported at Charleston, South Carolina. Strong wind gusts are also occurring well inland in North and South Carolina. Laurinberg, North Carolina, recently reported a wind gust of 55 mph.

Public Advisories

Here’s the breakdown of public advisories from NOAA’s National Hurricane Center (NHC) in decreasing order of severity:

• Hurricane Warning:
  • North of Altamaha Sound (Georgia) to Surf City (North Carolina)
• Hurricane Watch:
  • North Carolina – North of Surf City to Cape Lookout
• Tropical Storm Warning:
  • North Carolina – North of Surf City to Duck, Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds

Related Stories

• NY Times regularly updated tracking of Hurricane Matthew: link
• Remember, Ready.gov provides information on how to prepare for a storm and how to keep you and your family safe: link
• Americares, a non-profit disaster relief and global health organization providing immediate response to emergency medical needs, has mobilized immediate response teams to provide care for Hurricane Matthew survivors: link

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