Issued: Grand Cayman, 23 September 2022 10:30PM

The Cayman Islands remains under Hurricane Watch, as Tropical Depression Nine has now developed into Tropical Storm Ian.

At 10pm, the centre of Tropical Storm Ian was located near latitude 14.8 ° north and longitude 72.0° west. The system is moving west northwest at near 12 miles per hour, with maximum sustained winds near 40 miles per hour, with higher gust. A westward, or west-northwestward motion is forecast to happen early Sunday, followed by a north-nortwestward turn by late Monday.

On the current forecast track, the centre of Tropical Storm Ian is forecast to move across the Central Caribbean Sea through Saturday. It will then pass southwest of Jamaica on Sunday before passing over Grand Cayman from Sunday night through early Monday. Tropical Storm Ian is expected to become a hurricane on Sunday night.

Overcast skies with widespread thunderstorms are expected from Sunday as the system nears the Cayman Islands. Hurricane force winds are expected for Grand Cayman. Extremely rough seas accompanied by storm surge are also expected.