Hurricane Dorian Strengthening, Forecast To Make Landfall As A Category 4 Storm

Hurricane Dorian is now forecast to be a Category 4 storm -- with sustained winds of around 130 mph -- when it makes its expected landfall in the US on Monday, likely somewhere along Florida’s Atlantic coast, the National Hurricane Center says.

Dorian, having swept across the British and US Virgin Islands and whipped Puerto Rico with rain Wednesday, was moving northwest in the Atlantic Thursday morning with sustained winds of up to 85 mph.

Because it’s four days out, the range of potential landfall spots is vast -- from the Florida Keys to southeast Georgia.

And the center may pause at sea shortly before landfall -- leaving its outer bands to drench much of Florida with lots of rain, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.

"That’s ... heavy rain potential," Myers said. "This will not be a compact storm when it gets there."