Hurricane Florence Pounding the North Carolina Coast Tonight, Over 20 Inches of Rain in its Path...

Florence is now a Category 2 storm with 100 mph sustained winds, moving northwest at 5 mph, located about 55 miles southeast of Cape Fear. The storm is expected to produce more rain and flooding than Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Hurricane Warnings, Storm Surge Warnings and Flood Warnings are in effect. Tornado Watches are also in effect along the coast. The rain on the radar is about 275 miles in width. As the storm weakened, the size of the storm expanded. Already a foot of rain has fallen in parts of North Carolina as of 9 PM Thursday evening. The storm is forecast to move into extreme northeastern South Carolina on Saturday. Historic heavy rainfall up to 2 to 3 feet is possible along with storm surges up to 13 feet in height. A buoy off the coast of North Carolina near the center of the storm recorded a 112 mph wind gust in the past hour. 

George Wright is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist for Wright Weather Consulting, LLC. Visit our website at WrightWeather.com. Follow George Wright on Twitter @gwweather.