Tropical Cyclone Eunice strengthened rapidly on Thursday as it moved over the South Indian Ocean and it has attained an intensity equivalent to that of a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.  At 8:00 p.m. EST on Thursday the center of Eunice was located at latitude 17.7°S and longitude 67.7°E, which put it about 780 miles south-southwest of Diego Garcia.  It was moving toward the south-southeast at 10 m.p.h.  The maximum sustained wind speed was 160 m.p.h. and it was estimate that there were wind gusts to 185 m.p.h.  The minimum surface pressure was 918 mb.

Eunice has been in an environment very conducive for rapid intensification.  It has moved over warm Sea Surface Temperatures and upper level winds have been quite light.  As a result deep convection has been ongoing around the core of the circulation and upper level outflow has pumped out large quantities of mass.  Those processes caused the pressure to decrease rapidly and the wind speeds increased in a corresponding manner.  Eunice will remain in a favorable environment for another day or so.  After that time it will move to a higher latitude, which will place it in an area of lower Sea Surface Temperatures and more vertical wind shear.   Eunice is likely to weaken without threatening any land area.