The eastern Caribbean island of Barbados was under a storm alert as powerful Hurricane Ivan raced across the Atlantic Ocean toward the Caribbean on Sunday.
Ivan, the ninth tropical cyclone of the Atlantic hurricane season and the fourth major hurricane, had 125-mph winds and could gain more strength, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
At 5 p.m. EDT, the center of Ivan was 820 miles east-southeast of Barbados at latitude 10.4 north and longitude 47.7 west, the hurricane center said. It was moving to the west-northwest at about 21 mph.
The hurricane center's long-range forecast, which has a large margin of error, had the storm crossing the Lesser Antilles near Barbados on Tuesday afternoon and hitting Hispaniola, the island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, on Thursday.
The hurricane watch issued for Barbados warned residents they could see hurricane conditions within 36 hours.
Forecasters said Ivan was the strongest cyclone to develop at such a low latitude in recorded Atlantic hurricane history.
The hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, has been an extraordinarily busy one so far, with eight storms developing in August alone. The average season sees about 10 tropical storms or hurricanes.
Ivan formed as Hurricane Frances was battering Florida. Frances was the second hurricane to strike the state in three weeks, following Hurricane Charley on Aug. 13.
Yes, another one is out there -- and it suddenly detonated into a major hurricane this afternoon in the distant Atlantic Ocean.
Hurricane Ivan posed no immediate threat to South Florida, but forecasters said residents of the Caribbean islands -- including those in the Dominican Republic and Haiti -- had to watch it closely.
''Satellite images indicate that Ivan has intensified significantly over the past several hours and it is now a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale,'' forecaster Richard Pasch of the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade County said in a special bulletin issued at 1 p.m.
He said its winds had grown to 115 mph and could grow to 140 by Monday.
''Watches may be required for portions of the Windward Islands later today,'' he said. ``Interests in the Lesser Antilles should monitor the progress of Ivan.''
Long-range forecasts, subject to error, had it sweeping through the outer arc of Caribbean islands Tuesday and crashing into the Dominican Republic and Haiti as an intenseCategory 4 hurricane Thursday.
At 1 p.m. EDT, Ivan's center was located near latitude 10.1 north, longitude 46.6 west or about 995 miles east of Barbados and 2,450 miles from South Florida.
Ivan was moving west at 21 mph. A gradual turn toward the west-northwest was expected during the next 24 hours.
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