Publication Date October 1, 2016 | Weather Underground

Powerful Hurricane Matthew Becomes a Category 5; Major Impacts Expected

Haiti

In 36 hours, Matthew has deepened 55mb, from 996mb to 941mb, and the winds have increased by 80kt, from 60kt to 140kt. The 11AM 9/29 advisory had Matthew as a strong tropical storm, and then 11PM 9/30 advisory classified Matthew as a Category 5 hurricane. The last Category 5 in the Atlantic was Hurricane Felix back in early September of 2007. Felix became a Category 5 in this same general area. Interestingly, Matthew is also the farthest south Cat 5, barely beating out Hurricane Ivan (2004). Matthew is the first Category 4/5 hurricane in the Caribbean Sea since Paloma (2008), and the first major hurricane (Cat 3+) since Sandy (2012). Matthew's strengthening has been nothing short of stunning and was not expected by any major forecasting agency