After strengthening from a tropical storm into a Category 1 hurricane, forecasters believe Dorian is heading toward landfall in Florida during the Labor Day weekend as it continues to impact travel.
According to Weather.com, the National Hurricane Center said Dorian is packing maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour and moving 13 miles per hour as it rolls into the warmer open waters southeast of the Bahamas.
As the storm system continues moving northwest toward the United States, it is expected to strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane due to the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream. Some forecasters even believe Dorian could reach Category 4 before hitting the Southeast Sunday into Monday morning.
UPDATE: 5 AM
Hurricane #Dorian now expected to be nearly Category 4 at landfall … late Monday along Florida coast near Melbourne. pic.twitter.com/98YOlnBbSZ
— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) August 29, 2019
Fox 35 Orlando meteorologist Glenn Richards said Dorian could be “the strongest hurricane to hit Central Florida in over 30 years.” As a result, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency and urged residents on the state’s east coast to “have seven days of supplies, prepare their homes and follow the track closely.”
Hurricane Dorian looks like it will be hitting Florida late Sunday night. Be prepared and please follow State and Federal instructions, it will be a very big Hurricane, perhaps one of the biggest!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2019
Here are the 5 AM AST/EDT August 29 Key Messages for Hurricane #Dorian. For more information, visit https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/IPNcswUGBt
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) August 29, 2019
As for the hurricane’s impact on travel, airlines serving airports in the Caribbean and Florida are issuing travel advisories, waiving change fees and offering refunds for canceled flights.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have expanded their advisories to include airports in the Bahamas, while Southwest is now waiving change fees for customers flying to or from Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach Saturday through Wednesday.
For travelers scheduled to sail through the Caribbean in the coming days, Cruise Critic revealed that Carnival Cruise Line has been forced to alter itineraries for four of its scheduled sailings.
In addition, Royal Caribbean has made modifications to the scheduled stops for seven ships and Disney Cruise Line has rerouted only one vessel, but is monitoring the storm for weekend sailings.
On Wednesday, the storm system brought heavy rain to Puerto Rico and parts of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, but Dorian did not make a direct hit on the islands as many had feared.
This is a developing story. TravelPulse will update throughout the weekend as the Hurricane continues to impact travel.