November 8, 2008

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Hurricane Paloma eyes Cuba as it becomes a Category 4 storm

By Ivan Oransky

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

The hurricane-battered island of Cuba will likely suffer more damage this weekend at the hands of Hurricane Paloma, which strengthened this morning into an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm.

As of 7 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday, after dumping rain on the Cayman Islands, Paloma was traveling northeast at about 8 mph (13 km/hr), packing winds of 140 mph (225 km/hr), according to the National Hurricane Center.

It is on track to make landfall in Cuba at about 1 a.m. Sunday, probably just slightly weaker than its current strength, and could produce up to 20 feet of storm surge along the coast there.

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The Caymans and Cuba are expected to get up to ten inches (25 cm) of rain by the time the storm passes. Jamaica will likely get about 1-3 inches (2.5-7.5 cm) of rain.

Five hurricanes -- including Ike and Gustav -- have already hit Cuba this year, causing deaths and billions of dollars in damage.

For more on hurricanes, see our in-depth report.

Projected Paloma path courtesy NOAA/NHC

Ivan Oransky is editor in chief of Spectrum and a distinguished writer in residence at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. He is a co-founder of Retraction Watch and a volunteer member of the board of directors of the PubPeer Foundation.

More by Ivan Oransky

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