MIAMI _ Hurricane Dorian is still predicted to make landfall in Florida as a Category 4, but the latest track shows the storm could make its northern turn earlier and landfall later.
The newest predicted landfall is back near Vero Beach, north from the earlier prediction of Tequesta, on Tuesday afternoon. The 5 p.m. EDT Friday update from the National Hurricane Center shows Dorian is strengthening in the warm Atlantic waters, with maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour.
The storm is predicted to slow down when it reaches Florida's coast, which could mean it stalls out and dumps so much rain it can be measured in feet. The hurricane center predicted the southeast coast could see anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of rain, with some spots getting up to 18 inches.
From there it will turn north, forecasters said, but it's not yet clear if the storm will make the turn before it reaches Florida or once it's on shore.
"The track forecast by the end of the forecast period is highly uncertain, and any small deviation in the track could bring the core of the powerful hurricane well inland over Florida, keep it near the coast, or offshore," forecasters wrote.
There are no storm surge predictions for Florida yet, but the Bahamas is expected to see 10 to 15 feet of surge, "dangerous waves" and anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of rain in the central Bahamas and between 10 to 15 inches in the northwestern Bahamas. The Bahamas is under a hurricane watch in Andros Island and a hurricane warning for the rest of the northwestern Bahamas.
Recent predictions show that the ridge of high pressure air near Bermuda that is supposed to force Dorian into a left turn has some weaknesses, causing more uncertainty in the predictions as it gets closer to Florida. That ridge could also slow Dorian to a crawl when it reaches Florida.
As of the 5 p.m. update, Dorian was 420 miles east of the northwestern Bahamas and 595 miles east of West Palm Beach. Hurricane-force winds stretch 30 miles from the eye of the storm, an uptick from the 25 miles in the 2 p.m. advisory.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday afternoon the president had approved his request for a federal disaster declaration for the state.
"That will enable us to draw down more federal resources in anticipation of this storm," he said. "The constant in this storm ... is that this thing is getting stronger."
He warned Floridians that Dorian could be a "multiday storm" and said officials have distributed about a million gallons of water and plan to distribute almost 2 million meals from a central warehouse hub in Orlando.
Florida National Guard commander James Eifert added that 2,000 National Guard members have been activated, and that that number would double by Saturday.
Juliet Roulhac, the director of external affairs for Florida Power & Light, said a Broward news conference Friday that the agency "is in full storm mode" and has "pre-deployed and pre-positioned 13,000 workers" ahead of the storm. FPL is also working with other companies outside the state to bring in more workers.
"With any storm activation we ask that you prepare for the worst and of course we all hope for the best," she said. "And in preparing for the worst, be assured that you have supplies, batteries that will sustain you for at least two weeks of power outage. We hope that does not happen, but we want you to be prepared."
