HURRICANE EMILY TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
315 AM EDT SAT JUL 16 2005

..HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT INDICATES HURRICANE-FORCE WINDS EXTENDS FARTHER TO THE NORTHEAST OF THE CENTER...

SHORTLY BEFORE 300 AM EDT...AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT REPORTED A MINIMUM SEA-LEVEL PRESSURE OF 953 MB AND A FLIGHT-LEVEL WIND OF 131 KT IN THE NORTHEAST QUADRANT ON THE OUTBOUND LEG.
THIS WIND SPEED IS ROUGHLY EQUAL TO A SURFACE WIND OF 118 KT...OR 136 MPH...WHICH MAKES EMILY A SOLID CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE.

EQUALLY IMPORTANT IS THAT JUST 90 NMI NORTHEAST OF THE CENTER...
FLIGHT-LEVEL WINDS OF 88-92 KT...OR APPROXIMATELY 79-83 KT/90-95 MPH...
WERE INDICATED IN THE LARGE OUTER RAIN BAND THAT HAS FORMED DURING THE PAST COUPLE OF HOURS.
IF THE RAIN BAND PERSISTS...THEN HURRICANE-FORCE WIND GUSTS...WITH POSSIBLY SUSTAINED HURRICANE-FORCE WINDS AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS...MAY OCCUR LATER TODAY AS EMILY PASSES TO THE SOUTH OF JAMAICA.

FORECASTER STEWART

http://weather.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/GOES0731200519744NnkE.jpg