Stronger Hurricane Matthew Will Be Devastating For Florida

6 AM Thursday October 6 – Hurricane Matthew is getting stronger again as it moves through the northwestern Bahamas and heads towards Florida. The top surface winds are 125 mph, but should be noted that hurricane force winds reach 40 miles from the center. Tropical Storm force winds reach 160 miles from the center. That center is forecast to run along 200 miles of coastline, which would be more destructive than running inland. That would allow it to maintain its strength and provide maximum impact through densely populated areas and Cape Canaveral. The irony is that the new GOES-R Satellite is being prepped for launch next month and a storm of this intensity could cause problems to the facility. That might just be a footnote to potential destruction more than what Andrew and Katrina had done.

Matthew should regain Category 4 intensity, but depending on eyeball replacement cycles, this could touch Category 5 again as there is plenty of warm water to feed off of. The track along the coast as shown in this GFS Model slider indicates the path along the coastline that would be equivalent to multiple hours of tornado type winds. The State of Emergency might be an understatement as millions of people are evacuating the east coast of Florida. However, the storm should curve away from South and North Carolina, but may loop back around for a second hit on Florida next week. That would all depend on the interaction with Tropical Storm Nichole that now has winds of 70 mph.

GFS Model –> Slider