NEWS ITEM ON HURRICANE IAN, ISSUED BY THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY FORECAST OFFICE SECTION AT 6AM EDT, TUESDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER 2022.
…CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE IAN MOVING OVER WESTERN CUBA…
…SIGNIFICANT WIND AND STORM SURGE IMPACTS OCCURRING OVER WESTERN CUBA …
AT 5AM EDT, THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORMIAN WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 22.3° NORTH AND LONGITUDE 83.7 ° WEST, OR ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTH OF THE CITY OF PINAR DEL RIO, CUBA.
IAN IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH NEAR 12 MILES PER HOUR, AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TODAY. A TURN TOWARDS THE NORTH-NORTHEAST WITH A REDUCTION IN FORWARD SPEED IS FORECAST TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. ON THE FORECAST TRACK, THE CENTER OF IAN IS EXPECTED TO MOVE OVER WESTERN CUBA DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS. IAN WILL THEN EMERGE OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO LATER THIS MORNING, PAST WEST OF THE FLORIDA CAYS LATER TODAY, AND APPROACH THE WEST COAST OF FLORIDA ON WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 125 MILES PER HOUR WITH HIGHER GUSTS. IAN IS A CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE WIND SCALE. STRENGTHENING IS EXPECTED LATER THIS MORNING AFTER IAN EMERGES OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO.
