User blog:Sassmaster15/Matthew's still not done yet

Well guys, Hurricane Matthew recently attained Category 5 status in the Caribbean, making it the first in the Atlantic basin since Hurricane Felix. This means yet ANOTHER streak has been broken, and the second one today. However, this is only the beginning. Having still not reached the warmest part of the oceanic heat content the Caribbean has to offer, coupled with plenty of time over open water prior to making landfall near Jamaica on Monday, Matthew may intensify further before striking Jamaica and Cuba as a very powerful major hurricane, possibly even at Category 5 intensity.

My prediction for Matthew is that it will continue to strengthen throughout the overnight hours, possibly hitting a peak intensity of 165 miles per hour before undergoing some form of weakening (possibly an ERC) sometime tomorrow. However, Matthew is showing signs of strengthening amidst adverse condtions, so the other option is for it to continue this trend of rapid intensification. Nevertheless, Matthew will intensify throughout the weekend, possibly attaining winds of 175 miles per hour prior to striking Jamaica. However, even this may not be the most interesting part of the storm.

After moving through Cuba on Monday, I predict the terrain will disrupt it some and weaken it back to a hurricane as it begins to move over the Bahamas, where it will rapidly regain major hurricane status. Then....well, a run from the ECMWF model predicts a very intense 924 [wikpedia:Bar (unit)|mbar]] Category 5 hurricane off the Florida, just adjacent to the Bahamas, while CMC (meh) predicts a strong Category 1/weak Category 2 hurricane off the East Coast of the United States, coming ashore near North Carolina. In addition, the HWRF model predicts Matthew to regain its strength as a Category 4 hurricane after departing Cuba. Nonetheless, Matthew is far from over, and the most interesting part is yet to come.