Dorian has now become the strongest hurricane in modern records for the northwestern Bahamas.
A Hurricane Watch has been issued for the east coast of Florida from north of Deerfield Beach to the Volusia/Brevard County Line.
A Storm Surge Watch has also been issued from north of Deerfield Beach to the Volusia/Brevard County Line.
A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for Lake Okeechobee.
At 1100 AM EDT (1500 UTC) 9/1/2019, the extremely distinct eye of Hurricane Dorian was located near latitude 26.5 North, longitude 76.8 West. Dorian is moving toward the west near 7 mph (11 km/h). A slower westward motion should continue for the next day or two, followed by a gradual turn toward the northwest. On this track, the core of extremely dangerous Hurricane Dorian will continue to move over Great Abaco and move near or over Grand Bahama Island later tonight and Monday. The hurricane should move closer to the Florida east coast late Monday through Tuesday night.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 180 mph (285 km/h) with higher gusts. Dorian is a extremely dangerous category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely, but Dorian is expected to remain a powerful hurricane during the next few days.
Dorian has grown larger in size. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles (75 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles (220 km). Ham radio reports indicate that Hope Town in the Abacos just reported wind gust to 100 mph.