Risk increasing for Carolinas as ‘catastrophic’ Hurricane Dorian moves west, experts say
Hurricane Dorian, which continued lashing the Bahamas as a Category 5 storm late Sunday, was expected to move “dangerously close” to the Florida coast late Monday through Tuesday night before beginning a gradual turn to the northwest, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its latest forecast.
Since Saturday, that projected turn has indicated a threat to the Carolinas, although forecasters have cautioned that the models remain uncertain.
At 11 p.m. Eastern, the storm was about 135 miles east of West Palm Beach, Fla., moving at about 6 mph. It had begun to weaken slightly, with winds dropping to 180 mph.
Dorian was upgraded to a Category 5 storm on Sunday morning, with sustained wind speeds of 185 mph. There is a chance of “slight fluctuations” in intensity over the next 24 to 36 hours, though the storm will remain “extremely dangerous,” the hurricane center said.
There is an “increasing likelihood” of strong winds and storm surge in North and South Carolina, and heavy rains and flooding are expected in the southeast United States later in the week, the hurricane center said in its 5 p.m. update Sunday.
The “catastrophic” hurricane is the strongest in “modern records” to hit the northwestern Bahamas, the hurricane center said.
The slow-moving storm was expected to pound the Bahamas for 36 hours.
“Just a devastating situation when you take those powerful winds and then keep it around for a while,” National Hurricane Center director Ken Graham said in a Facebook live video Sunday.
A forecaster in the National Hurricane Center’s Facebook live video said a very weak trough will cause the storm to turn.
“It’s just those subtle weak features that can make all the difference, and timing is just so key, which is why we’ve had such a hard time knowing exactly when this is going to make a turn,” he said.
Tropical-storm force winds are expected to move into South Carolina at 8 p.m. Tuesday and North Carolina at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The Carolinas are still expected to see 5 to 10 inches of rain, with some areas seeing up to 15 inches.
Hurricane-force winds extend 45 miles from the center of the storm while tropical-storm force winds extend 140 miles out, according to the hurricane center.
Dorian is expected to weaken after three days but will remain a hurricane for five days, the hurricane center said in the 5 p.m. update.
This story was originally published September 1, 2019 at 5:40 PM.
