Miami, Fla. (970 WFLA)- UPDATE:Recent reports from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that Maria has reintensified to category 5 status, with estimated maximum sustained winds of 160 mph
At 5:00 AM, the center of Hurricane Maria was located near latitude 16.0 North, longitude 62.3 West. Maria is about 65 miles west-southwest of Guadeloupe, about 205 miles southeast of St. Croix.
Maria is moving toward the west-northwest near 9 mph (15 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue through Wednesday. On the forecast track, the eye of Maria will move over the northeastern Caribbean Sea today, and approach the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico tonight and Wednesday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 160 mph with higher gusts. Maria is a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Maria is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous category 4 or 5 hurricane while it approaches the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
An Air Force Hurricane Hunter aircraft is currently investigating Maria.Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles (45 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 125 miles(205 km).The estimated minimum central pressure is 934 mb (27.58 inches).
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for...
* Guadeloupe* Dominica
* St. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat
* U.S. Virgin Islands* British Virgin Islands
* Puerto Rico, Culebra, and Vieques
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for...
* Antigua and Barbuda
* Saba and St. Eustatius
* St. Maarten
* Anguilla
* St. Lucia
* Martinique
A Hurricane Watch is in effect for...
* Saba and St. Eustatius
* St. Maarten
* St. Martin and St. Barthelemy
* Anguilla
* Isla Saona to Puerto Plata
A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for...
* St. Vincent and the Grenadines
* West of Puerto Plata to the northern Dominican Republic-Haiti border
Graphic Credit: NHC MIAMI