11 p.m. update
Hurricane Florence remains a Category 4 storm, with 140-mph winds extending 60 miles from its center. Florence is about 670 east-southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina, and is moving west-northwest at 17 mph, but the storm is expected to slow down significantly Thursday into Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
8 p.m. update
The National Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm watch for the lower Chesapeake Bay as Hurricane Florence churns closer to the coast.
The watch extends from the North Carolina-Virgnia border to Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore and south from the New Point Comfort Lighthouse at the entrance of Mobjack Bay to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. A watch means that tropical storm-force winds are expected in the area within the next 48 hours.
The watch area includes Poquoson in the Greater Williamsburg area, as well Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.
Hurricane Florence remains a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 140 mph. At 8 p.m. the storm was located about 750 miles east-southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina, and was moving west-northwest at 17 mph.
A hurricane warning is in effect from the South Santee River in South Carolina to Duck, North Carolina, while the area between Duck and the North Carolina-Virginia border is under a hurricane watch.
A hurricane warning usually is issued about 36 hours before the first tropical storm-force winds are expected to appear.
Florence is expected to strengthen throughout the night and into Wednesday, the hurricane center said. While it is expected to lose some power on Thursday, it should still be an extremely dangerous major storm when it makes landfall along the North Carolina coast.
The hurricane center said Florence could dump as much as as 35 inches of rain on some areas of the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic states over the weekend and into next week, depending on the storm’s ultimate track.
Hampton Roads should expect 4 to 12 inches of rain and be prepared for possible life-threatening flash flooding, especially because Florence is expected to stall once the storm comes ashore, according to the National Weather Service office in Wakefield.
The storm also will produce significant swells off Hampton Roads, as well as life-threatening surf and rip currents, the weather service said.
