Data from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter Aircraft Indicates that ‘Delta’ has Become a Hurricane

At 7:00 p.m. on Monday (October 5), the center of Hurricane Delta was located near latitude 16.5 North, longitude 79.6 West. Delta is moving toward the west-northwest near 13 km/h. A faster northwestward motion is expected Tuesday through Wednesday night. On the forecast track, the center of Delta is expected to pass southwest of the Cayman Islands early Tuesday, and approach the northeastern portion of the Yucatan peninsula and the Yucatan Channel Tuesday afternoon or evening.

Delta is forecast to move over the southern Gulf of Mexico Tuesday night or early Wednesday, and be over the south-central Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday and Wednesday night.

Data from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that the maximum sustained winds have increased to near 120 km/h with higher gusts. Additional rapid strengthening is expected during the next day or so, and Delta is expected to be a major hurricane when it nears the Yucatan Peninsula.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 km from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 110 km from the center.

The minimum central pressure estimated from data provided by the NOAA reconnaissance aircraft is 980 mb.