The storm was located about 630 miles off the coast of French Guiana on Saturday. There's a slight chance it could hit Bermuda, but modeling currently shows it's likely to miss the island.
More people have died from unsafe use of generators after hurricanes than storm surge since 2017. The National Hurricane Center wants to focus attention on generator safety.
In a postseason review of last year's hurricane season, NOAA meteorologists upgrade Zeta to a "major" Category 3 storm. It hit New Orleans and southeast Louisiana on Oct. 28.
Forecasters used nine Greek letters to name the final storms of last year's Atlantic hurricane season. This year, the National Hurricane Center has a new plan.
Named storms have formed in the Atlantic before the official June 1 start of hurricane season in each of the last six years. The National Hurricane Center is discussing starting the season in May.
There's only been one other year – 2005 – that Greek names have been needed. The National Hurricane Center on Friday announced storms called Alpha and Beta have formed in the Atlantic.
The hurricane could begin affecting South Florida as early as late Friday night and could increase in strength to a Category 2, DeSantis says. North Carolina and Virginia also declared emergencies.
The Category 2 storm is expected to bring heavy winds and life-threatening surf. The National Hurricane Center reports the hurricane has broken records in the Atlantic.
With maximum sustained winds of about 90 mph, Dorian was a Category 1 storm when its eye crossed over Cape Hatteras. It is now moving northeast at 17 mph.
The Category 2 hurricane is just off the coast, and its heavy winds and rains are hammering the Southeast. "If you don't need to be out," South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster says, "don't go out."
With sustained winds of 185 mph, Dorian is hitting the Bahamas as "the strongest hurricane in modern records" to hit the archipelago, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded a state of emergency to include all of the state's 67 counties, citing the storm's "uncertain path." Georgia has made a similar declaration for a dozen counties.
"There is an increasing likelihood of life-threatening storm surge along portions of the Florida east coast" on Labor Day weekend, the National Hurricane Center says.
"The threat of winds and heavy rains later this week ... in the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, and Florida is increasing," the National Hurricane Center says.
Tropical Storm Dorian "is expected to be a hurricane when it moves near Puerto Rico and eastern Hispaniola" this week, the National Hurricane Center says.
The storm surge started pushing water into areas around Lake Pontchartrain Friday, as Barry slowly moved toward shore. Some inland areas could see 3 feet to as much as 6 feet of water.
The low-pressure system is currently a few hundred miles southwest of Bermuda. It's expected to become a tropical storm well before the official hurricane season starts on June 1.
A hurricane warning — meaning hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours — is in effect from the Alabama-Florida border eastward to the Suwannee River.
Because of the storm's huge size, "you might end up with 90-100 mph winds for a couple of hours, or three or four hours," an expert at the National Hurricane Center says.
Waves up to 83 feet high were measured inside Hurricane Florence on Wednesday, says the National Hurricane Center's Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch.
