The Hurricane Hunters investigating 97L, the strong tropical wave now moving through the Windward Islands, found that it now has a closed circulation and is stronger, so it is now Tropical Storm Matthew with winds of 60 mph. Tropical storm conditions are likely today for many of the islands in the Lesser Antilles as Matthew moves through. Strengthening is forecast during the next few days and Matthew is expected to become a hurricane. In the near term the track forecast for Matthew is straightforward: continuing on toward the west-northwest or west into the Caribbean while gradually slowing down. Toward the weekend the uncertainty grows. Most models have Matthew making a sharp turn toward the north and moving toward Jamaica, eastern Cuba, and then the Bahamas. If it were to take this course Matthew could also go on to affect parts of the U.S. East Coast and Atlantic Canada next week. However, even though model agreement is good, a track more into the western Caribbean or perhaps even the Gulf of Mexico cannot quite be ruled out yet.
