Florence Now Category 4 Hurricane
RECON FINDS 130 MPH WINDS
CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE
SERIOUS SITUATION DEVELOPING
FOR NORTH CAROLINA
LONG DURATION FLOODING
THREAT GROWING INLAND

Hurricane Florence is gaining strength rapidly this afternoon. The hurricane has entered a zone of extremely warm water and very light wind aloft. The outflow is excellent and it will likely strengthen further in this round of intensification. 2 threats loom for North Carolina coast. The first and immediate threat is the land fall. The area south of Cape Hatteras to the North Carolina South Carolina border seems the most likely spot at the moment. Most of the hurricane tracking models are focusing on that area.
If this track verifies South Central Pennsylvania and North Central Maryland won't have any impacts from the landfall. The question regarding the track after landfall remains. This will determine if any of the rains of Florence reach our area probably around the time of the weekend. However that part of the forecast is highly speculative at this point because of the weak steering winds in the upper atmosphere.
FOR MORE ON FLORENCE INCLUDING GRAPHICAL RECON REPORTS AND MODELS GO TO METEOROLOGISTJOECIOFFI.COM