Hurricane Dorian picks up steam
Hurricane Dorian has gained strength and is back to Category 3 status, with maximum sustained winds clocked at 115 mph at 8:00 a.m. today, September 5, 2019. Dorian’s outer bands will continue to batter coastal and some inland areas of the Carolinas the rest of today through tonight. This keeps the Port of Charleston at risk for damage. Flooding and power outages have already been reported in the city of Charleston. A Hurricane Warning remains posted along the coast from Charleston to southern Virginia.
The storm will likely stay close enough to the coast for at least tropical storm-force winds (39 to 73 mph) to blow down trees and power lines, as well as flood many communities with heavy rain and several feet of storm surge. Roads may become impassable.
Dorian has also spun up a few tornadoes since last night, from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to a few spots just across the border into North Carolina. It’s not unusual for isolated tornadoes to develop in the outer bands of a tropical cyclone. According to the National Weather Service (NWS) outlook, which is housed inside the FreightWaves SONAR Critical Events platform, more tornadoes could develop today (yellow-shaded, blue-outlined area on the SONAR map above).
Even though Dorian may weaken just a bit tonight, hurricane-force winds up to 100 mph could hammer the Outer Banks of North Carolina on Friday as the storm makes landfall there. Places such as Virginia Beach and Norfolk could get hit by tropical storm-force winds and flooding. Then, the hurricane will then gradually move back to sea during the afternoon.
Although Dorian’s future path has become clearer, the hurricane continues to be a developing situation. Look for updates throughout the rest of the week on the FreightWaves website and our social media accounts.
Other U.S. weather of interest today
Several wildfires are burning across northern California, Oregon and Idaho. Lightning from dry thunderstorms will increase the threat for new fires starting. Gusty outflow winds from the storms could quickly spread existing/new fires, and smoke from the fires could reduce visibility on several highways.
International weather
The outer bands of Typhoon Lingling are pounding the southern islands of Japan. Winds are at 135 mph near the eye of the storm, equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane. Friday night and Saturday, local time, Lingling will move into the Korean Peninsula, possibly putting some oil operations and ports at risk.
Have a great day, and be careful out there!
