You Guessed It--Dennis Now a Hurricane

It was just a matter of time.

Dennis is now a hurricane over the Central Caribbean.

Late this afternoon, he was centered near Latitude 16.1N, Longitude 72.5W, or about 300 miles ESE of Kingston, Jamaica and about 335 miles SSW of Guantanamo, Cuba.

He was moving WNW near 14 mph with sustained winds now up to 80 mph.

Now, let's jump way ahead.

Dennis will continue across the Caribbean and enter the SE Gulf of Mexico and then continue NW across the Central Gulf of Mexico. By late Sunday night or early Monday morning, he is expected to approach the northern Gulf of Mexico Coast.

The official NHC track forecast points to the Alabama Coast. However, some other weather models are shifting westward as far as the Louisiana Coast.

It is interesting to note that QPF Charts (that estimate rainfall potential) are indicating over 9 inches of rain from Dennis in the Pensacola-Orange Beach area.

Again, all this is subject to change.

But it does tell us that we need to watch and wait. Good idea if you have trip planned for the coast, to watch updates closely over the next several days.