JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Hurricane Idalia strengthened Wednesday morning into a catastrophic Category 4 storm before dropping to a powerful Category 3 as it made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region around 7:45 a.m.
By 5 p.m., Idalia was downgraded to a tropical storm but a storm surge was still expected along the southeastern coast. The center of the storm was 40 miles west of Savannah and winds were clocked at 70 mph.
Tropical-storm force winds and flooding are expected to affect Georiga, South Carolina and North Carolina into Thursday.
Some additional weakening is forecast through tonight, but Idalia is expected to remain a tropical storm while it moves near the coast.
Idalia is moving toward the northeast near 21 mph (33 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue through tonight. A generally eastward motion is forecast to begin on Thursday and continue through Saturday. On the forecast track, the center of Idalia will move near or along the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina through tonight, and then just offshore the coast of North Carolina on Thursday. Idalia will then move eastward over the western Atlantic into the weekend.
Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 205 miles from the center. A sustained wind of 52 mph and a gust to 67 mph were recently reported at the Savannah Entrance Light.
The estimated minimum central pressure is 984 mb.
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Idalia is expected to produce a swath of 4 to 8 inches of rainfall with isolated maxima up to 12 inches from the Florida Big Bend through central Georgia and South Carolina, and through eastern North Carolina into Thursday. These rainfall amounts will lead to areas of flash, urban, and moderate river flooding, with considerable impacts.
The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast near and to the right of the center, where the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves.
For Northeast Florida, the worst weather is past us. Breezy conditions -- 20-30 mph -- continue through the day with brief showers. The tornado threat continues for areas in southern Georgia where heavy rain shifts northward away from Jacksonville.