Hurricane Tammy to move northward

Hurricane Tammy is expected to continue moving north-northwestward and northwest over Saturday and Sunday nights.

The storm was upgraded to hurricane status on Friday at 11 am by the US National Hurricane Centre.

In a release at 6 pm on Friday, the TT Meteorological Service said at 5 pm, the centre of Hurricane Tammy was near 14.3N 59.2W, or about 325km southeast of Guadeloupe.

It said the hurricane is moving toward the west-northwest near 11 kilometres per hour and a turn toward the northwest was anticipated on Friday night, followed by a north-northwestward and northward turn Saturday night through Sunday night.

On the forecast track, the centre of Tammy will move near or over portions of the Leeward Islands on Saturday and then move north of the northern Leeward Islands on Sunday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 120 kilometres per hour with higher gusts. Gradual strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 35 kilometres from the centre and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 205 kilometres.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 991 millibars.

A hurricane warning is in effect for Guadeloupe, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, St Maarten, St Martin and St Barthelemy.

A hurricane watch is in effect for Dominica.

A tropical storm warning is in effect for Saba and St Eustatius.

A tropical storm watch is in effect for Barbados and Martinique.

There are currently no alerts, watches or warnings in effect for Trinidad and Tobago.

The Meteorological Service will continue to monitor the progress of Hurricane Tammy and said on Friday that it would issue an update at 6 am on Saturday or earlier if the situation warrants.

Meanwhile, Caribbean Airlines (CAL) cancelled two flights to Dominica on Friday, owing to the threat of thunderstorms and heavy rain caused by Hurricane Tammy.

The cancelled flights were BW426 and BW427, which were scheduled to fly from Piarco to Dominica.

CAL said customers would be re-accommodated and asked them to update their contact information.