Important Takeaways:

• These two characteristics are making it a unique threat to millions of Floridians and people in surrounding states as it moves north-northeastward today and Thursday.
• The storm’s large size, with tropical storm winds (sustained at 39mph to 73mph with higher gusts) extending at least 250 miles east of the storm center, ensures that nearly every Florida city outside the western Panhandle will see strong winds.
• Power outages are also likely to be widespread in Georgia and parts of South Carolina, as the storm may still be a hurricane when it moves into southern and south-central Georgia on Friday.
• Storms that have large wind fields can push more water close to the coast and produce a larger, more damaging storm surge.
• The Hurricane Center’s forecast intensification rate on Monday morning was the highest it had issued to date when going from a pre-named system to a major hurricane.
• The storm’s size and intensification rate will require most, if not all, storm preparations to be made across Florida today, with residents of Georgia having slightly more time.

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