News

At 1100 AM EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Ian was located near latitude 19.1 North, longitude 82.7 West. Ian is moving toward the northwest near 13 mph (20 km/h). A north-northwestward motion is expected to begin later today, followed by a northward motion on Tuesday with a slightly slower forward speed. A turn toward the north-northeast with a further reduction in forward speed is forecast on Wednesday. On the forecast track, the center of Ian is expected to pass near or west of the Cayman Islands today, and near or over western Cuba tonight and early Tuesday. Ian will then emerge over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, pass west of the Florida Keys late Tuesday, and approach the west coast of Florida on Wednesday into Thursday. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 80 mph (130 km/h) with higher gusts. Rapid strengthening is expected during the next day or so, and Ian is forecast to become a major hurricane tonight or early Tuesday when it is near western Cuba and remain a major hurricane over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles (35 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles (185 km). The minimum central pressure based on Air Force and NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft data is 980 mb (28.94 inches).