ORLANDO, Fla. —  Hurricane Florence is the talk of the town weather-wise, as the monster storm moves northwest toward the east coast of the U.S.

A stout area of high pressure continues to dominate our weather pattern here in Florida, keeping our steering flow fairly light, and allowing the east coast sea breeze to quickly move inland.

There were only a few isolated showers and storms Wednesday afternoon with even this activity moving quickly west. We’ll keep chances the same for inland areas Thursday.

As Hurricane Florence slides closer to the U.S. coast, drier air will be pulled down over Central Florida and rain coverage will lower to 20-percent coverage Friday and Saturday, then slowly bump back to 40-percent on Sunday and Monday.

Florence pushes away from the region early next week with rain chances lowering back to 30-percent Tuesday and Wednesday. Highs the next seven days are set to climb slightly above seasonable levels in the lower 90s, but our feels like temperature will hover around 100.

A high surf advisory has been issued for our east coast from through 11 p.m. Thursday, with wave heights climbing to around five to seven feet overnight, then six to eight feet and approaching 10 feet Thursday afternoon.

Although the surfcast looks fair, large and dangerous swells are also creating an extreme rip current risk. There is also a Small Craft Advisory in place through Friday.

TROPICAL UPDATE

Although fluctuating in intensity this afternoon thanks to an eyewall replacement, Hurricane Florence remains extremely dangerous. 

Models are slowing it down to a crawl by Thursday night into the weekend, so the impacts will be felt for several days.

Elsewhere in the tropics, we’re tracking Helene way out in the eastern Atlantic, Tropical Storm Isaac as it heads toward the Caribbean, and Subtropical Storm Joyce southwest of the Azores. We could possibly throw Kirk in the mix in the Gulf of Mexico sometime by Friday.

Atlantic hurricane season peaks in September and runs through Nov. 30.

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