Live Map: Track Hurricane Florence As It Heads For The East Coast

On Wednesday, Hurricane Florence stands poised to become the northernmost Category 5 hurricane in history, according to Weather Underground meteorologist Bob Henson.

The storm is located 850 miles southeast of North Carolina’s coast, and advancing at a speed of 17 miles per hour. Governors in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia have declared states of emergency, and President Donald Trump has authorized federal funding and resources to assist with preparation for the storm. Maryland’s governor, along with the mayor of Washington, D.C., have issued emergency declarations of their own. Evacuation orders have been issued to more than 1.5 million people.

Click "play" on the video below to track Florence live as it moves toward the east coast.

Here’s what to expect from Florence and when to expect it, based on the latest forecasts from the National Hurricane Center and other sources.

Arrival: The storm track has changed. Florence’s landfall is now expected Friday morning. Its predicted path has turned slightly south and west, meaning the storm could make landfall at Wilmington and then push into South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.

Reminder: Tropical storm-force winds (greater than 39 miles per hour) should arrive more than 12 hours earlier — between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. That’s because Florence is a giant storm, with winds extending 175 miles from its center.

Winds: Florence is currently a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour. But the storm will pass through a batch of extremely warm waters on Wednesday, which could rapidly intensify the storm into a Category 5.

The storm may weaken slightly before making landfall, but it could still hit land as a Category 4 or strong Category 3 storm.

Storm Surge: The slight shift in track means the worst of the storm surge will likely hit Wilmington and its surrounding areas. Earlier predictions had the focus of the storm surge further north, near the city of New Bern. Storm surge may be more than 9 feet in these areas, according to ADCIRC, a computer model developed over 30 years by the University of Notre Dame and University of Texas. The storm surge may spread several miles inland along Cape Fear River.

Anywhere from 4 to 6 feet of storm surge may now occur as far south as Charleston, South Carolina and as far north as the Virginia coast.

Rainfall: Based on current projections, the storm will slow down significantly right as it reaches the Carolina Coast. The location of this slowdown could be consequential.

If the storm slows down far enough offshore, it can churn up cooler water and weaken itself, Philip Klotzbach, an atmospheric scientist at Colorado State University, told the PBS NewsHour. However, if the slowdown happens to close to shore, it may be too late.

Florence’s rains may present an outsized risk to coastal and inland communities in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and western Virginia. The change in track means less rain for the mid-Atlantic areas like Washington D.C. and Maryland, but they could still witness up to 12 inches in places and experience flooding.

As the storm encounters the highlands in these states, it will likely increase its rate of precipitation. The storm’s pace will likely slow after landfall, which could create a stalling effect and further add to rainfall totals.

The National Hurricane Center has increased its predictions for rainfall to worrying degrees. The center now expected 20 to 30 inches of rain for coastal North Carolina, with 40 inches in places. South Carolina could see 5 to 10 inches on average and up to 20 inches.

Flash flooding and river flooding is also expected in all of these regions.