Dean category 2 at second landfall

Hurricane Dean's strength dropped to category 2 as it made it's second landfall near Tecolutla, Mexico along the central Mexican coast. It is expected to rapidly diminish in strength as it encounters the Sierra Madre mountain range and dump heavy rain that could result is dangerous flash floods. Dean has had minimal impact on the U.S. and U.S. oil interests in the Gulf.

Hurricane Dean from space

Hurrican Dean now category 5

Hurricane Dean is now offically a category 5 storm as it heads toward the Yucatan/Belize border. Surface wind speeds of 160 mph and a central pressure of 914 mb were measured by a hurricane hunter plane.

Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, is flooded following the onslaught by Dean. A curfew is currently in effect until electricity can be restored.

Dean eye headed for Yucatan

AccuWeather is forecasting the eye of hurricane Dean to hit the eastern coast of the Yucatan as a category 5 around 8 a.m. Tuesday and emerge Wednesday morning from the peninsula as a category 3, heading toward mainland Mexico just south of the Texas border.

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Fear grips Jamaican tourists and locals alike

In Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, which was also in the path of category 4 hurricane Dean, fear grips many islanders and tourists alike.

People jammed supermarkets and hardware stores in Kingston to stock up on canned food, bottled water, flashlights, batteries, lamps and plywood. In malls in the Jamaican capital, storeowners hammered plywood over windows.

Elaine Russell recalled Hurricane Ivan’s destruction in 2004.

“I can’t take it,” she said. “The storm is bad enough but it’s what happens afterwards — there’s no light, no water.”

Don't wait. Be prepared. There is still time to have a complete survival kit shipped to you before hurricane Dean arrives.

Composite hurricane track model for Dean

Composite of forecasted hurricane Dean tracks from various prediction models run by the government.

Severe weather calendar

Weather Guide 2008 Wall Calendar

Hurricane Dean preparations

Worried the storm could disrupt operations at Mission Control in Houston, NASA shortened the last spacewalk for astronauts aboard the shuttle Endeavour and ordered the spacecraft to return to Earth a day early on Tuesday.

President Bush, signed a pre-landfall emergency disaster declaration for Texas, allowing the federal government to immediately send people, equipment and supplies to the state if Dean makes landfall there.

In Cuba, which could get rain from the outer bands of the storm, the government issued a tropical storm warning and said it was evacuating 50,000 people from three provinces.

Residents are advised to have a 3-day survival kit for each household member.

Some hurricane Dean history

This year's hurricane Dean isn't the first hurricane by that name. According to Wikipedia, "Hurricane Dean was the fourth named storm and second hurricane of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season. Dean formed on July 31 and reached tropical storm status the following day east of the Leeward Islands. Dean brushed the Leeward Islands as a category 1 hurricane before turning northward and striking Bermuda as a category 2 hurricane. Dean continued northward before making landfall in southeastern Newfoundland."

Unfortunately, this year's Dean threatens to be much more serious.

Hurricane Dean 3 day track forecast

NOAA's 3-day track forecast at this time shows hurricane Dean passing over the southern coast of Jamiaca and heading for the central Yucatan with the southwestern tip of Cuba and the northern coast of Belize in the potential track area.

Hurricane Dean expected to become category 5

Just two hours ago Reuters reported that hurricane dean is expected to grow to a category 5 hurricane as it plows over Jamaica and heads to the Gulf.

Next landfall is expected somewhere between Lousiana and Belize, a wide margin of uncertainty at this point in time, with the most likely location being near the border of Texas and Mexico.

Advisories recommend having emergency preparedness supplies on hand prior to hurricane landfall.

Lousiana governor Kathleen Blanco has declared a state of emergency as a precaution.

Scientists at the Naval Air Station in Key West will send two Aerosonde unmanned drones into the eye of Dean to collect data.