Hurricane Felix now Category 5

Per the Weather Channel:

Dangerous Hurricane Felix (160 mph) continues to swirl westward through the Caribbean Sea while maintaining its category 5 strength on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. The eye of Felix, as of 11 a.m. EDT, was located about 265 miles south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, near 14.3 North, 77.8 West. The hurricane is moving rapidly westward at 21 miles per hour and could make landfall near the Nicaragua-Honduras border early tomorrow as a potentially catastrophic category 4 or 5 hurricane.

Hurricane warnings are now in effect for the Caribbean coasts of northern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras. Hurricane watches are posted along the Caribbean coast westward and northward from there as far as the Belize-Mexico border.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic, there are two systems being monitored for tropical development. One is over the central Atlantic, about halfway between the Lesser Antilles and Africa. Upper level winds currently are not favorable for development, but if the disturbance can hold together, it could become a tropical depression within the next day or so. The other system being watched is an area of low pressure along a dying frontal boundary off of the Southeast coast. This disturbance has some potential for slow development over the next few days.

In the eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm Henriette weakened slightly overnight, and is now down to 65 mph. Conditions are favorable for strengthening, and Henriette is forecast to become a hurricane later today.

As of 8 a.m. PDT, Henriette was located near 19.9 North, 108.5 West, or about 220 miles south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Henriette is moving to the northwest near 12 miles per hour, but is expected to gradually turn to a more northerly track over the next 36 hours.

A hurricane warning is now in effect for the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula, from La Paz southward on the east coast, and from Santa Fe southward on the west coast. Henriette is expected to churn northward over the southern Baja Peninsula late Tuesday and weaken to a tropical storm as it emerges over the Gulf of California.