Hurricane Fiona reached category three on the Saffir-Simpson scale

HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 20 (ACN) With maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour (km/h), and higher gusts, Hurricane Fiona has reached category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, out of a maximum of 5, and continued to move on a north-northwest course, with a speed of 17 km/h.

At six o'clock in the morning, the center of this meteorological phenomenon was estimated at 21.4 degrees North latitude and 71.0 degrees West longitude, about 25 kilometers east-southeast of the Turks Islands, eastern Bahamas, said the Institute of Meteorology of Cuba.

According to Tropical Cyclone Warning No. 13, during the early morning hours Fiona (which caused havoc as it passed through Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic) continued moving away from the northern coast of the Dominican territory, approaching the Turks Islands.

During the night and early morning it continued to gain in intensity, and now has maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h, with higher gusts, and a central pressure that has dropped to 967 hectoPascal, so it is now an intense category three hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, warned the Institute.

Over the next 12 to 24 hours, Hurricane Fiona will continue crossing close to the Turks and Caicos Islands in the eastern Bahamas, moving further into Atlantic waters, with similar track and speed of translation, to tilt its path to the north tonight or tomorrow, Wednesday, gaining more intensity.