The 5 a.m. update for Thursday, September 5 from the National Hurricane Center shows Hurricane Dorian has gained strength and is now a category 3 storm moving north at 8 mph. Residents of coastal eastern North Carolina are advised to be prepared for for hurricane conditions later Thursday night and Friday morning and all preparations should be completed as quickly as possible early Thursday morning.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the Savannah River to the North Carolina/Virginia border, including the Outer Banks area and the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds.

Tropical storm conditions are currently affecting portions of the Georgia and South Carolina coasts. Hurricane conditions are expected along portions of the South Carolina coast later Thursday morning.

Hurricane Dorian was centered as of 5 a.m. Thursday about 80 miles south-southeast of Charleston, SC. It is moving toward the north near 8 mph. On the forecast track, the center of Dorian will continue to move close to the coast of South Carolina through the day Thursday and then move near or over the coast of North Carolina Thursday night and Friday. The center should move to the southeast of extreme southeastern New England Friday night and Saturday morning and approach Nova Scotia later on Saturday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 115 mph with higher gusts. Dorian is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are expected Thursday morning, followed by slow weakening through Saturday, however Dorian is expected to remain a hurricane for the next few days.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles. The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Charleston, SC recently reported a wind gust to

The water could reach 4 to 6 feet above ground in the areas between Cape Lookout to Duck, including the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds.

Dorian is expected to produce 6 to 12 inches of rainfall, 15 inches in isolated areas, through Friday in the coastal Carolinas.

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