The time for preparations and/or evacuation decisions is past. This is pure hunker down time right now. Those in the immediate impact zone of Hurricane Idalia will see rapidly deteriorating weather conditions over the next few hours. Landfall expected at sunrise Wednesday.
Idalia will remain at hurricane strength throughout Georgia and likely into South Carolina. There will be a large swath of area impacted. There will be power outages and severe disruptions in all three states throughout the day today.
At 200 AM EDT (0600 UTC), the center of Hurricane Idalia was located near latitude 28.3 North, longitude 84.5 West. Idalia is moving toward the north near 15 mph (24 km/h). A northward to north-northeastward motion is expected through morning, with Idalia’s center forecast to reach the Big Bend coast of Florida this morning. After landfall, Idalia is forecast to turn toward the northeast and east-northeast, moving near or along the coasts of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina late today and Thursday.
Hurricane Hunter aircraft data indicate that maximum sustained winds have increased to near 120 mph (195 km/h) with higher gusts. Idalia is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Additional strengthening is forecast, and Idalia is forecast to become a category 4 hurricane before it reaches the Big Bend coast of Florida this morning. Idalia is likely to still be a hurricane while moving across southern Georgia, and possibly when it reaches the coast of Georgia or southern South Carolina late today. (more)
What follows is the #1 requested information by those who nervously anticipate the arrival of their first Hurricane experience.



