Sept. 12, 2003 — As powerful and dangerous Hurricane Isabel, still a Category 5 with winds of 160 mph and higher gusts, makes its way westward Friday, the National Weather Service posted high-surf advisories for north- and east- facing coasts of nearby islands.
"As the hurricane continues to move to the west northwest, the direction of the swells will change," said Brad Diehl, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan.
Air Force Reserve and NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft confirmed the Category 5 status Friday afternoon. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 85 miles from the center, and tropical storm-force winds up to 160 miles – down from 185 at 5 p.m.
As of 11 p.m. Friday, the hurricane was centered at 21.8 degrees north latitude and 59.5 degrees west longitude, or about 320 miles north-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands. The hurricane was moving west at 9 mph. Pressure stood at 923 millibars or 27.26 inches.
Diehl said the hurricane should pass 350 miles northeast of St. Thomas Saturday morning, 320 miles north northeast of St. Thomas Saturday night and 350 mile due north of St. Thomas on Sunday morning.
The V.I. Planning and Natural Resources Department sent out a press release Friday advising boaters they could enter safe havens effective Sept. 9. Safe havens on St. Thomas are Benner Bay, Mandahl Pond and Flamingo Bay. On St. Croix, boaters can take shelter at Salt River and Christiansted Harbor.
On St. John, V.I. National Park advised boaters Tuesday that they could start using Hurricane Hole as hurricane haven.
Diehl said there are no storms currently developing. However, as always, Virgin Islands residents need to be vigilant should Hurricane Isabel unexpectedly change direction or another storm spring up.
Editor's note: At update time, 11 p.m. graphic was not available.
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