Absolute Monster’ Update: Hurricane Dorian Heading Straight For Florida

The forecast shows the hurricane blowing 10 mph faster and making landfall a day later than Thursday predictions showed.

• Dorian has strengthened to a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph.
• Dorian is expected to become a major hurricane Friday and remain extremely dangerous through the weekend.
• Dorian is on track to make landfall late Monday or early Tuesday, possibly as a powerful Category 4 and likely over Florida.

Hurricane Dorian strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane Friday, and it’s expected to stay “extremely dangerous” as it moves near the Bahamas and approaches the Florida coast, the National Hurricane Center said. The entire state of Florida is under a state of emergency and residents are lining up at gas stations and grocery stores as authorities urge them to stockpile a week’s worth of food and supplies. Many are also boarding up homes and businesses to prepare for the damaging winds and water expected to ravage the region. “It’s looking like it could be an absolute monster,” President Donald Trump said of Dorian in a video posted on Twitter. “All indicators are it’s going to hit very hard and be very big.” Trump compared the storm to Hurricane Andrew, the Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 165 mph. There’s a good chance Dorian will power its way into a Category 4 with potentially catastrophic 140 mph winds before making landfall on the mainland U.S. on Monday evening or Tuesday morning. The National Weather Service said Dorian could bring a “triple-threat of dangers” to the state, including a “life-threatening storm surge, devastating hurricane-force winds and heavy rains.” The center urged Floridians to “prepare NOW.”