Hurricane Dorian moving slower before a western turn towards Florida
As of the 11:00 a.m. advisory, Hurricane Dorian is now moving at 10 mph. The slower movement is an indication that Dorian is about to make a turn to the west towards Florida.
Sebastian and Vero Beach aren’t in the clear yet, but we are seeing less of an impact from this hurricane as we go over the computer models. In addition, the latest cone released by the National Hurricane Center is matching most of the models.
The projected path is showing potential landfall between West Palm Beach and Miami. Dorian could then take a slower turn to the north near the center of the state or the west coast.
There are three possibilities of where Hurricane Dorian will go:
1) Some hurricane models are showing that Dorian could take the northern turn early and miss Florida entirely.
2) There is a chance of the storm, making the turn when it reaches the center of the state.
3) A few models are showing that Dorian will go over South Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico.
We feel pretty confident in those three predictions. The spaghetti models have also been showing a possible turn before making landfall, and that is what the latest projected cone is showing.
Whichever path it takes, residents in Grant, Barefoot Bay, Micco, Sebastian, and Vero Beach should prepare for a storm surge. Flooding is likely as Dorian approaches Florida.
Dorian is still a Category 2 hurricane and forecasters are not ruling out a Category 5 landfall. However, the forecast is still predicting a Category 4.
Residents in Sebastian and Vero Beach should still prepare for Hurricane Dorian. Make sure you have plenty of water, food, and medication to last seven days. Board up any windows and listen to the advice given by Sebastian, Vero Beach, and Indian River County emergency officials.
The good news is, we see less wobble from Dorian than previous advisories from the National Hurricane Center.
“The official forecast has been very consistent so far, and this one is very similar to the previous NHC forecast,” the NHC said.
Dorian is 660 miles east of West Palm Beach, Florida. The hurricane is moving northwest at 10 mph with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles.
So far, the tracking is looking better for Sebastian, but please be prepared in case Dorian changes direction.
Stay tuned for more updates. We will be LIVE on our SebastianDaily.com website, Facebook, and YouTube early this afternoon.