NOAA NHC has upgraded Earl to a hurricane. A NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft just reached Earl and measured maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (65 knots) – a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Earl is centered as of 4 p.m. CDT about 70 miles (110 km) northeast of Isla Roatan, Honduras, and about 150 miles (240 km) east of Belize City, Belize. On the forecast track, the core of Earl will continue to pass near the Honduras Bay Islands during the next few hours, and then make landfall in Belize tonight or early Thursday.
