United States

Matthew is now a dangerous Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 160 mph. As Matthew treks westward across the Caribbean Sea, heavy rain bands and strong winds will continue to affect Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, northern Colombia and northern Venezuela. Rainfall of 2-4 inches is possible across these areas as well as significant wind damage.

Matthew will continue westward across the southern Caribbean, then make a turn toward the north later on Saturday. It is important to note that there remain some model differences as to when a turn to the north will take place and how sharp it will be and, as such, the track of Matthew beyond the weekend remains highly uncertain. However, residents and visitors in Jamaica, Haiti and eastern Cuba should prepare for hurricane conditions Sunday night and into early next week.

Once Matthew moves north of Cuba early next week, it will move into the Bahamas and continue to move in a generally northward direction. There remains a concern that the system could take a track farther to the west, which would bring it closer to Florida and, ultimately, along the length of the southeastern U.S. coast during the middle of next week. The impacts from Matthew in Florida and the rest of the U.S. East Coast next week remains uncertain at this time.

Elsewhere across the Atlantic, there are no imminent threats for tropical development.

By AccuWeather Meteorologist Brian Wimer, updated by Faith Eherts