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Matthew, Strongest Atlantic Hurricane In Decade, Expected To Move Up Coast

Residents of the East Coast should be on alert for possible impacts from Hurricane Matthew during the middle to latter part of next week, according to AccuWeather.

This animation of NOAA's GOES-East satellite imagery from Tuesday to Friday, shows Tropical Storm Matthew move into the Caribbean Sea where it became a hurricane.

Photo Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project
Matthew, which had been a tropical storm, was named a hurricane on Thursday. Above, a look at its potential movement.

Matthew, which had been a tropical storm, was named a hurricane on Thursday. Above, a look at its potential movement.

Photo Credit: AccuWeather.com

Matthew, the strongest hurricane to hit the Atlantic in nearly a decade, is now a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds at 155 mph and gusts up to 190 mph. 

It briefly strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane late Friday to, become the strongest hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean since Felix in 2007, according to the National Weather Service.

Matthew, which is now barreling toward Jamaica and Haiti, is then expected to make a dangerous northward shift and track from eastern Cuba to the Bahamas Tuesday. Several storms models predict the hurricane will then track at or near the East Coast rather than heading out to sea.

How significant an impact it could have on the East Coast and the Hudson Valley area will depend on Matthew's strength and proximity to the coast, according to AccuWeather. It's uncertain whether or not possible impacts will be direct from a landfall in the U.S. or indirect from a hurricane at sea, but the most likely track has the storm moving up east of the Atlantic Coast.

Matthew, which had been a tropical storm, became the fifth hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic Hurricane season on Thursday afternoon.

Check back to Daily Voice for updates on Hurricane Matthew's track.

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