Dean Passes South

Published 20th August, 7:14am

At 4 am local time, the extremely dangerous Dean was moving south of the Cayman Islands headed for the Yucatan Peninsula.

At that time it was located near latitude 17.7 north and longitude 80.7 west or about 115 miles south-southeast of Grand Cayman and about 495 miles east of Belize City.

Dean is moving toward the west near 21 mph and a westward or west-northwestward motion is expected over the next 24 hours. On this track the centre of the hurricane will be approaching the East Coast of the Yucatan Peninsula tonight.

Maximum sustained winds at the centre of Dean are near 150 mph with higher gusts. Dean is an extremely dangerous category four hurricane and has the potential to reach category five strength within the next 24 hours.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 60 miles the centre and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 205 miles. Estimated minimum central pressure is 926 mb.

An intermediate advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane Center in Miami at 7 am local time, followed by the next complete advisory at 10 am local time.

For more information, log on to www.CaymanPrepared.ky

For further information contact: Pat Ebanks