Coming to a virtual standstill, powerful Hurricane Dorian taunted the east coast of the United States on Labor Day – churning in an essentially stationary position as its westward march ground to a halt just off the coast of Florida.
Up next for the category five monster? A projected turn to the northwest … the timing of which will impact millions of lives and billions of dollars.
This is particularly true for South Carolina … which is now directly in the path of the storm.
Per the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Florida, Dorian was located approximately 110 miles east of West Palm Beach, Florida – moving west at one mile per hour.
That’s right … one mile per hour.
(Click to view)
(Via: @GBlack22wx)
Hurricane force winds extended outward from its center of circulation for up to 45 miles, while tropical storm force winds extended outward for up to 140 miles. As of this writing, Dorian boasted maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour – making it a strong category four storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Late Sunday, however, the storm slammed into the Bahamas packing maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour – making it the most powerful storm ever to hit the archipelago.
Grand Bahama Island in particular has been subjected to the very worst of the slow-moving system over the past 24 hours – with some reports indicating that as many as 13,000 homes on the island haven been completely destroyed.
Dorian’s 185-mile-per-hour sustained winds were also the strongest recorded by a tropical system in the Atlantic basin since Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
(Click to view)
(Via: Provided)
While Dorian has likely passed peak intensity, it is just beginning its period of peak danger to the American mainland.
“The core of extremely dangerous Hurricane Dorian will continue to pound Grand Bahama Island through much of today and tonight,” forecasters warned. “The hurricane will then move dangerously close to the Florida east coast late tonight through Wednesday evening and then move dangerously close to the Georgia and South Carolina coasts on Wednesday night and Thursday.”
Landfall (or even multiple landfalls) in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina remain very much on the table, too.
And while “gradual weakening is forecast” over the next 24 hours, analysts expect Dorian “to remain a powerful hurricane during the next couple of days.”
Here is a look at Dorian’s latest forecast window …
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(Via: NHC)
And here is a look at its latest projected path …
(Click to view)
(Via: BoatUS)
As this news outlet predicted in our coverage yesterday morning, South Carolina governor Henry McMaster announced mandatory evacuations for coastal areas of the Palmetto State effective at 12:00 p.m. EDT on Labor Day.
These evacuations included multiple lane reversals on major thoroughfares – including Interstate 26 between Charleston, S.C. and the state capital of Columbia.
Developing …
-FITSNews
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