• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 10 / 31 / 2010

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By CURTIS MORGAN. Hurricane Tomas on Sunday began what was expected to be a slow, weeklong march toward the Caribbean's largest islands.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center, stressing that Tomas' path remains uncertain four to five days out, drew a large potential strike zone around an area covering Jamaica, eastern Cuba and much of Hispaniola.

Smack in the middle: Haiti, which shares Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, and is still reeling from a devastating January earthquake that left more than 1 million people homeless and living in tents.

At 11 a.m. Sunday, Tomas was packing 90 mph sustained winds, slightly down from an earlier 100 mph, Category Two peak. The hurricane also was showing other signs of weakening as it encountered moderate wind shear and dry air. But with lots of warm water in its path, the hurricane center still predicted steady intensification.

It could be a major hurricane by Friday morning, when the center's official track would put it just off the southwestern coast of Haiti.

Tomas was churning west-northwest at about 9 mph but was expected to head more westerly in the next few days, then turn north as a strong trough pushes in from the United States. The timing of that turn, which remains uncertain, will dictate Tomas' direction.

The storm was 345 miles south-southeast of San Juan and 645 miles south-southeast from Port-au-Prince.

By CURTIS MORGAN
[email protected]

Source: www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/31/1900560/hurricane-tomas-close-to-st-lucia...