Dean Upgraded To a Hurricane

At 4:00 a.m. the center of Hurricane Dean was located near Latitude 13.4 degrees north and Longitude 52.3 degrees west or about 780 kilometres east of Barbados and about 950 kilometres east of Martinique.



Dean is moving towards the west near 39 km/h and this general motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours, bringing its centre near the Lesser Antilles on Friday.



Maximum sustained winds are near 120 km/h with higher gusts. Hurricane Dean is a Category One Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale and additional strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours.



The progress of Hurricane Dean will continue to be closely monitored.