NEWS RELEASE

Thursday, August 17, 2017 at 5:00 a.m.

*** GERT BEGINS TO WEAKEN AS IT RACES TOWARD COLDER WATERS…***

At 4:00 a.m. the centre of Hurricane Gert was located near latitude 41.7 degrees north, longitude 54.0 degrees west or 560 km south of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Gert is moving rapidly toward the east northeast near 63 km/h and this motion is expected to continue today. A slower northeastward to east northeastward motion is expected on Friday.

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 155 km/h with higher gusts. Continued weakening is forecast and Gert is likely to lose tropical characteristics by tonight.

Hurricane Gert is not a threat to Jamaica.

The Meteorological Service will continue to monitor this system.

CDJ