Hurricane Sam was designated a Category 4 hurricane Saturday and was expected to continue strengthening through Saturday night as it continued on a track taking it just north of the Leeward Islands and the USVI, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 5 p.m. Saturday update.
On its current forecast track, the storm’s center will make its closest point of approach to the Virgin Islands on Thursday morning, when it passes approximately 383 miles northeast of St. Thomas. At that time, Sam is forecast to be a Category 3 hurricane with top winds of 125 miles per hour and tracking to the northwest at 11 miles per hour.
The National Hurricane Center forecast Sam will remain well to the east of the northern Leeward Islands.
At 5 p.m., Sam’s center was approximately 1,655 miles east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands, near 13.3 degrees North, 48.5 degrees West. The hurricane is moving to the west-northwest at 10 miles per hour while packing sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. There are no watches or warnings in effect.
Sam remains a small hurricane. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles. Swells generated by Hurricane Sam will begin to reach the Lesser Antilles early next week. These swells could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.
Hurricane Sam has resumed a rapid intensification trend and now shows a well-defined eye. An NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft is en route to the hurricane to provide a better estimate of its intensity.
Sam’s intensification is forecast to continue through Sunday morning. The intensity projections call for slow weakening beginning on Sunday and continuing through Thursday. Despite the anticipated weakening, Sam will remain a major hurricane through the middle of next week.
