Hurricane Matthew, which by Friday afternoon had grown to a category 4 storm, is well past the U.S. Virgin Islands and taking aim at either Haiti or Cuba, according to weather watchers at the National Hurricane Center.
The North Atlantic basin was calm Friday and the National Hurricane Center gave a zero percent chance of cyclonic development in the next five days.
Matthew reached hurricane status on Thursday as a category 1 storm as it passed south of the USVI, over Aruba, Bonair and Curacao. It continued on its westward track overnight and, as of 2 p.m. Friday, was about 46 miles north of Punta Gallinas, Colombia, roughly parallel with Haiti.
Forecasters are predicting the storm will take a right turn. Depending on which forecast model correctly predicts the sharpness of that turn, Matthew will cross either Haiti or Jamaica and eastern Cuba, with it reaching the Bahamas by Wednesday.
