NAVY latest track and wind/time data
Reports from an Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter aircraft indicate
that the maximum sustained winds have increased to near 75 mph...
120 km/h...with higher gusts. Rina is a category one hurricane on
the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. Additional strengthening
is expected during the next 48 hours and Rina is forecast to become
a major hurricane by late Tuesday.
![](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT18/AL1811W5_NL_sm2.gif)
Rina grew into a Category 1
hurricane today and is expected to become stronger as it moves
toward resorts on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, the U.S. National
Hurricane Center said.
Rina's top winds are now 75 miles (120 kilometers) per
hour, up from 40 mph earlier today, according to a center
advisory at about 2 p.m. New York time. The system is the sixth
hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic storm season.
"Additional strengthening is expected during the next 48
hours and Rina is forecast to become a major hurricane by late
Tuesday," the center said. "Interests in Belize, the east
coast of the Yucatan Peninsula and the adjacent islands should
monitor the progress of Rina."
Rina is forecast to approach Cancun by week's end and then
possibly curve east toward Cuba, the center's tracking maps
show. The system is about 360 miles east-southeast of Chetumal,
Mexico, moving northwest at 5 mph.
A major hurricane has winds of at least 111 mph, capable of
snapping trees, blowing down poorly built homes and creating a
"high risk of injury or death to people, livestock and pets due
to flying and falling debris," the center said.
Reconnaissance Flight
A U.S. Air Force Reserve reconnaissance airplane flew into
the storm today and discovered it had grown rapidly in strength,
the center said. Hurricane-force winds of at least 74 mph extend
15 miles from its core and tropical storm-force winds of 39 mph
or more reach out 115 miles.