Ok, I am way behind in bringing you these updates on hurricane Dean. Here’s the latest from the National Hurricane Center:

AT 800 AM AST…1200Z…THE CENTER OF HURRICANE DEAN WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 15.4 NORTH…LONGITUDE 67.9 WEST OR ABOUT 615 MILES…
990 KM…EAST-SOUTHEAST OF KINGSTON JAMAICA AND ABOUT 250 MILES…
400 KM…SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF SANTO DOMINGO IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

DEAN IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 17 MPH…28 KM/HR. A GENERAL
WEST TO WEST-NORTHWEST MOTION IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
ON THIS TRACK…THE CORE OF THE HURRICANE WILL BE MOVING SOUTH OF
THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC LATER TODAY AND SOUTH OF HAITI TONIGHT.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 150 MPH…240 KM/HR…WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. SATELLITE IMAGES SUGGEST THAT DEAN COULD HAVE WEAKENED A
LITTLE DURING THE PAST FEW HOURS…BUT REMAINS AS A DANGEROUS
CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE.

The forecast track is making it look very unlikely that this will have any impact on Florida. However, there is still a good chance that this storm could hit the already soggy south-eastern Texas border.

Before that however, Dean is still on a path toward Jamaica. They are currently under a hurricane watch, but that will probably be changed to a hurricane warning later this morning.