Hurricane Dorian: Tropical Storm Watch for Sebastian, Vero Beach

The National Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm watch for Grant, Micco, Barefoot Bay, Sebastian, Fellsmere, and Vero Beach as of 5:00 p.m. Saturday.

The watch (not a tropical storm warning) was issued because some of the outside bands contain tropical force winds.

Since last night, the path of Hurricane Dorian has shifted east and farther away from Florida. Dorian’s projected path has not changed since 5:00 a.m. on Saturday. Sebastian is still inside the cone of uncertainty.

“The guidance has not changed significantly since the earlier run, so it has not been necessary to adjust the NHC forecast in this advisory. The uncertainty in the track is high while the hurricane is moving slowly across the northwestern Bahamas and near the east coast of Florida. Any deviation of Dorian’s core to the left would result in an increase in the winds along the east coast of Florida,” the National Hurricane Center said.

At 4:55 p.m., we reviewed the EURO hurricane model, and it’s showing Dorian stalling in the Bahamas and then moving north. This track would indicate Dorian has shifted more to the east since this morning. Please remember that this is not an official forecast.

The GFS and UK models are also showing Dorian offshore from Florida. Again, this is not an official forecast.

Please continue to prepare for Hurricane Dorian. Do not remove your shutters until the storm has passed. 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 emergency officials.

Dorian is a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. The storm is traveling west at 8 mph and is 355 miles from West Palm Beach, Florida.

There are no mandatory evacuations in Indian River County. Brevard County mandatory evacuations have been postponed for 24 hours until Monday at 8:00 a.m.

Dorian is a very dangerous hurricane, and we ask everyone to be ready in case the track changes.

For now, all we can do is wait. We will have more information later tonight. Until then, please remain calm.

Stay tuned for more updates. We will be LIVE on our SebastianDaily.com website, Facebook, and YouTube all weekend at various times.