Hurricane Joyce, upgraded Wednesday morning, continued to strengthen over the Tropical Atlantic as it edged closer to the islands of the Eastern Caribbean.
At 5 p.m. Wednesday, hurricane forecaster Richard Pasch estimated the storm's center at 12.6 degrees north latitude, 40.7 degrees west longitude or about 1,660 miles east-southeast of the Virgin Islands. Hurricane Joyce is looking a bit more defined on weather satellite when compared to its appearance on Tuesday, Pasch said.
Its forward motion is to the west at 14 miles per hour with that movement expected through Thursday. Top winds were estimated Wednesday to be near 85 miles per hour with more strengthening expected Thursday and Friday, Pasch said.
Meteorologist Alan Archer said Wednesday evening as Hurricane Isaac continues to move away from the region, Hurricane Joyce will slowly strengthen. "Winds will reach 110 miles per hour in the next two days and should remain there as it moves towards the general area of the Lesser Antilles," he said.
Archer said it is difficult to track the future movement of the hurricane as long-range computer forecast models are turning out conflicting predictions. "Some models indicate that around Saturday the hurricane will take a turn to the northwest which will bring it to the Lesser Antilles on Sunday," he said. But he noted that other models suggest an earlier curvature to the northwest.
"At this time, we have to wait and see how the hurricane reacts in the next day or two," Archer said.
The National Hurricane Center is issuing advisories on Hurricane Joyce every six hours.
