Hurricane Emily

Pre-Landfall 2 | Summary
Posting Date: July 17, 2005, 7:15:00 AM

Hurricane Emily spared Jamaica and the Cayman Islands its most damaging winds as it passed south of those islands and headed for Yucatan, Mexico, were it is expected to make landfall late tonight or early tomorrow. After fluctuating in intensity over the last 24 hour hours, possibly achieving Category 5 status for brief periods, Hurricane Emily is currently a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph and an estimated minimum central pressure of 938 mb. As of 8:00 EDT (1200 UTC) Hurricane Emily is located about 305 miles east southeast of Cozumel, Mexico and heading west northwest at 20 mph. This motion is expected to continue over the next 24l hours. Emily tore off roofs and caused street flooding in Grenada last week as it passed that island and headed into the Caribbean, where it rapidly gained strength. But yesterday, the eye of the strong Category 4 storm passed about 100 miles south of Jamaica, sparing the island significant damage, though the storm brought heavy rain and high gusts, particularly at higher elevations. At 2:00 am (0600 UTC) this morning, Emily’s center was about 110 miles south of Grand Cayman island, which received heavy rain and gusty winds. The Cayman’s are still rebuilding after Hurricane Ivan devastated the island last September. Meanwhile, thousands have been evacuated from Islas de Mujeres and Cancun where some 340 flights yesterday and today are flying tourists back to Canada, the United States and Europe. About 500 buses have been made available to transport the remaining tourists and residents to hotels and shelters further inland. Pemex has closed more than 60 offshore oil wells and has evacuated 15,000 workers in advance of the storm. Hurricane Emily is expected to cross the Yucatan peninsula on Monday and head back into the Caribbean for a second landfall later in the week, probably in Mexico. The AIR tropical cyclone team is continuing to monitor this storm closely and will post additional information as necessary.

Pre-Landfall 2 | Downloads
Posting Date: July 17, 2005, 7:15:00 AM