8 pm Tuesday: Hurricane Maria Intermediate Advisory

CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY:


The Meteorological Service of Antigua has discontinued the

Hurricane Warning for St. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat.  The

Tropical Storm Warning and Hurricane Watch for Anguilla has also

been discontinued.

At 800 PM AST (0000 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Maria was located
near latitude 17.0 North, longitude 64.2 West. Maria is moving
toward the west-northwest near 10 mph (17 km/h), and this general
motion is expected to continue through Wednesday night.  On the
forecast track, the eye of Maria will move near or over St. Croix
in the U.S. Virgin Islands tonight, cross Puerto Rico on Wednesday,
and then pass just north of the coast of the Dominican Republic
Wednesday night and Thursday.

Reports from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft
indicate that maximum sustained winds are near 175 mph (280 km/h)
with higher gusts.  Maria is a potentially catastrophic category
5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.  Some
fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or so, but
Maria is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous category 4 or 5
hurricane as it moves near or over the Virgin Islands and Puerto
Rico.  Slow weakening is expected after the hurricane emerges over
the Atlantic north of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 35 miles (55 km) from
the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140
miles (220 km).

SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:


A Hurricane Warning is in effect for...

* U.S. Virgin Islands

* British Virgin Islands

* Puerto Rico, Culebra, and Vieques

* Dominican Republic from Cabo Engano to Puerto Plata


A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for...

* Saba and St. Eustatius

* St. Maarten

* Guadeloupe

* Dominican Republic west of Puerto Plata to the northern border of

the Dominican Republic and Haiti

* Dominican Republic west of Cabo Engano to Punta Palenque


A Hurricane Watch is in effect for...

* Saba and St. Eustatius

* St. Maarten

* St. Martin and St. Barthelemy

* Isla Saona to Cabo Engano

* Turks and Caicos Islands and the Southeastern Bahamas


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