CLOSE SHAVE! Hurricane warning lifted for Jamaica

This as the island is now expected to be outside of the range of hurricane-force winds associated with Hurricane Matthew.

“This means that tropical storm conditions, including possible sustained wind speeds of 63-118 km/h (39-73 mph), are expected to affect Jamaica in 36 hours or less,” said the latest bulletin from the Met Service.

At 4:00 pm, the centre of Hurricane Matthew was located near Latitude 16.3 degrees North, Longitude 74.7 degrees West. This is about 305 kilometres (190 miles) southeast of Kingston, Jamaica or 360 kilometres (225 miles) southwest of Port au Prince, Haiti.

Matthew is moving toward the north near 11 km/h (7 mph) and this general motion is expected to continue through Tuesday night, with a turn toward the north-northwest forecast for Wednesday.

On this track, the centre of Matthew will approach southwestern Haiti tonight and move near eastern Cuba late Tuesday.

Maximum sustained winds remain near 220 km/h (140 mph), with higher gusts, and Matthew remains a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are possible during the next couple of days, but Matthew is expected to remain a powerful hurricane through Wednesday.

“On the projected path Jamaica should be outside the range of the hurricane-force winds as Matthew moves close to southwestern Haiti tonight or early Tuesday,” according to the bulletin.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 65 km (40 miles) from the centre and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 295 km (185 miles).

“This means that storm-force winds are likely to spread over eastern parishes, including St Mary, Portland, St Thomas, Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine, while gusty winds reaching near tropical storm force should also be expected over central parishes,” the Met Service said.