Florida braces for Dorian’s arrival

Forecasters still do not know exactly where Hurricane Dorian will make landfall. The Category 3 storm, however, is expected to strengthen to a Category 4 by the time it hits the United States on Tuesday somewhere between the Florida Keys and southeastern Georgia. President Donald Trump said Dorian could be an “absolute monster” of a storm, the most powerful to hit Florida’s east coast in a generation. Authorities haven’t issued any mass evacuation orders yet since it is still unclear which regions can expect the worst damage.

What do we know? Dorian was centered approximately 625 miles east of West Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday afternoon with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph and moving northwest at 10 mph. The Bahamas issued a hurricane watch for its northwestern islands overnight. Forecasters said coastal areas of the southeastern United States could get 5 to 10 inches of rainfall, with 15 inches in some places.

Dig deeper: Track Hurricane Dorian’s progress at the National Hurricane Center.