Tracking Florence

This is a developing story and will be updated.

After quickly intensifying this week, Hurricane Florence weakened slightly and was downgraded to a Category 2 storm on Wednesday before making landfall early Friday morning. As it neared the coast, the storm’s forward motion slowed to a crawl, but the winds and rain will continued at full-strength.

[ Hurricane Florence makes landfall in North Carolina, slamming state with ‘life-threatening’ rainfall ]

A hurricane can cause different types of damage when it makes landfall. Along the coast, storm surges and strong winds are the main concern. As the hurricane moves inland, it could lead to severe flooding from heavy rainfall, especially if it slows or stalls along its path.

Florence began on Aug. 30 as a disturbance in the eastern Atlantic and grew into a hurricane for the first time on Sept. 4. It varied in strength as it traveled west, at one point reverting to a tropical storm. But on Sept. 9, energized by warm Atlantic waters, Florence again became a dangerous hurricane.

Life-threatening storm surge is expected along the coast

Along the coastline where Florence makes landfall, a maximum storm surge of 15 to 20 feet is possible. Storm surges are abnormal rises in sea level generated by intense storms. Surges generally occur on the side of the storm where winds rotate into the shore. The strongest surges are where the winds are most powerful, usually near the storm’s eye.

Water is pushed toward land by strong wind and, to a lesser extent, by low pressure around the storm. The height of a storm surge can be affected by many factors, such as the size and speed of the storm, the angle of its approach, the shape of the coastline and the slope of the continental shelf.

Rainfall could bring dangerous inland flooding

Parts of the Mid-Atlantic, especially from North Carolina’s northern regions to Pennsylvania, have already received 150 to 300 percent of their normal rainfall this summer. The National Weather Service has already warned that there will be heavy rain and flooding in these same regions.

Warm ocean temperatures fueled Florence this week

Abnormally warm water temperatures in the western Atlantic helped strengthen the storm as it churned across the ocean. Temperatures above 27.8 degrees Celsius — or 82 degrees Fahrenheit — are ideal for the formation of tropical storms. As the storm churns the water and dumps tons of cold rain, it leaves much cooler ocean surfaces behind.