Hurricane Dorian intensifies to strong category 5 hurricane

FLORIDA, USA — As of 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Hurricane Dorian is a category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph. The new forecast has shifted it more to the northeast; regardless, Florida and the East Coast need to prepare for landfall.

Hurricane Dorian

Andrew Wilson

The National Hurricane Center stated the storm has gusts more than 200 mph and a storm surge may be experienced in the Bahamas at a height between 15 to 20 feet.

Hurricane Warnings and Watches are in place for the Bahamas, but too soon to issue watches for Florida because Dorian is moving slow to the west-northwest.

Hurricane Dorian

Andrew Wilson

Here’s the difference in tropical warnings and watches:

KENS

Impacts include high wind gusts, heavy rain, flash flooding, and dangerous storm surge.

The Air Force Reserve 53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (Hurricane Hunters) and NOAA Corps have been flying the storm, gathering data to perfect the model forecast for days and they are expected to continue flying the storm up until landfall.

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The storm is forecast to dump a high amount of rain across Florida and into other parts of the southeast over the next week. If you have friends or family living in Florida, give them a call to make sure they understand the forecast and what the storm’s impacts may be.

The storm isn’t expected to cause any impacts to Texas, but we will continue to keep you updated in case things change.

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