Oscar, which has been spinning about in the central Atlantic first as a subtropical storm and most recently as a tropical storm, has now been classified as a hurricane by the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Fortunately, even as a hurricane, Oscar is not expected to impact land.
As of the 5pm ET advisory, the center of Hurricane Oscar was located near latitude 25.7 North, longitude 55.5 West. Oscar is moving toward the west near 16 mph. The NHC expects a continued westward motion tonight, followed by a turn toward the west-northwest by early Monday, with a northwestward motion forecast on Monday afternoon. By Tuesday, Oscar is forecast to begin moving toward the north or north-northeast with an increase in forward speed. The hurricane is then expected to accelerate quickly toward the northeast through the middle of the week.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 75 mph with higher gusts making it a Category 1 hurricane. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, followed by gradual weakening thereafter. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 15 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles.
The estimated minimum central pressure is 989 mb or 29.21 inches.
