Forecast: Dorian Will Slam into Florida As a 'Major' Category 4 Hurricane

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Hurricane Dorian will likely hit Florida Sunday (Sept. 1) as a Category 4 hurricane, according to the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center.

Tropical storm Dorian as seen on the morning of Aug. 26 overlaid on nightlights from several islands including Barbados and St. Lucia. Tropical storm Dorian turned into a hurricane on the afternoon of Aug. 28 near St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Tropical storm Dorian as seen on the morning of Aug. 26 overlaid on nightlights from several islands including Barbados and St. Lucia. Tropical storm Dorian turned into a hurricane on the afternoon of Aug. 28 near St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. (Image credit: NOAA)

Hurricane Dorian will likely hit Florida Sunday (Sept. 1) as a Category 4 hurricane, according to the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

The storm, which dealt Puerto Rico a comparatively mild blow Wednesday (Aug. 28), has since moved a couple hundred miles north. Dorian is tracking northwest toward Florida with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (135 km/h), making it a Category 1 hurricane now. However, the NHC said, pressure inside the hurricane has dropped significantly, which should drive the storm to strengthen into a "major hurricane" on Friday. Faster winds have likely not yet appeared, because a "double-eyewall" structure has emerged in the hurricane, temporarily limiting the most extreme winds.

"There is an increasing likelihood of life-threatening storm surge along portions of the Florida east coast late this weekend or early next week," the NHC said, adding that "the risk of devastating hurricane-force winds along the Florida east coast and peninsula late this weekend and early next week continues to increase."

Dorian's forecast map as of 11 am EST, August 29 shows that it will likely strengthen and move toward Florida. (Image credit: National Hurricane Center)

It's too soon to predict precisely where the worst effects will happen, the NHC said. But already, forecasters expect that a wide region should experience heavy rainfall as the storm hits and moves inland next week, which may cause life-threatening flash floods.

The time to begin preparing for the storm in Florida and the northwestern Bahamas, the center said, is now.

Originally published on Live Science.

Rafi Letzter
Rafi Letzter
Staff Writer
Rafi joined Live Science in 2017. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of journalism. You can find his past science reporting at Inverse, Business Insider and Popular Science, and his past photojournalism on the Flash90 wire service and in the pages of The Courier Post of southern New Jersey.