Hurricane Idalia is dousing Florida with heavy rain, powerful gusty winds and “catastrophic” storm surge after making landfall early Wednesday in the Big Bend region of the state.
The National Hurricane Center predicts Idalia, which made landfall near Keaton Beach as a Category 3 hurricane, will trek northeast over Florida and into Georgia, and later the Carolinas before moving into the Atlantic Ocean.
Where is Idalia now? And where is it going?
Here’s what the forecast track shows:
Where is Idalia now? And how strong is it?
Hurricane Idalia was about 5 miles east-northeast of Madison, which is in the central northern border of Florida and about 25 miles south of Valdosta, Georgia, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 10 a.m. update.
Idalia has weakened into a Category 2 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds near 105 mph, with higher gusts, according to the hurricane center. Its damaging winds have begun to spread into southern Georgia.
Where is Idalia going?
Idalia’s quickly moving north-northeast near 18 mph over northern Florida and is forecast to be in southern Georgia later Wednesday. Forecasters expect it will will be a Category 2 storm by the time it’s in Georgia.
The storm is then forecast to turn northeast and east-northeast, sending it near or along the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas through Thursday. The forecast shows it being a tropical storm by the time it leaves South Carolina and enters the Atlantic Ocean. Idalia could near Bermuda early Monday.
What type of weather will it bring?
Idalia’s destructive life-threatening winds are lashing the state, and is already causing water levels to rapidly rise in coastal communities. Forecasters expect the storm will continue to batter parts of the state with hurricane and tropical storm-force winds, heavy rain, dangerous life-threatening storm surge, some possible tornadoes, and dangerous surf and rip current conditions.
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