Published On:Wednesday, September 01, 2010

4:25pm – Hurricane Earl continues relentlessly towards the northwest passing east of Abaco and the tropical storm warning has been discontinued for the island of San Salvador as it no longer poses any threat to The Bahamas.

At 3pm the centre of Hurricane Earl was located near latitude 25.7 degrees north and longitude 72.7 degrees west or about 275 miles east of Abaco.

Earl is moving toward the northwest near 17 miles per hour and this general motion is expected to continue today with a gradual turn to the north on Thursday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 125 miles per hour with higher gusts. Earl is a category three hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Preliminary data from an Air Force plane indicates that Earl is expected to strengthen again and regain category four status later today.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 90 miles from its centre and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 200 miles from its centre.

Small craft operators and swimmers should be aware that large swells from Hurricane Earl should affect The Bahamas today.

There swells will likely cause dangerous surf conditions and rip currents.

This will be the final alert issued on Hurricane Earl.