ORLANDO, Fla. — Florence became a hurricane as Tropical Storm Gordon will be making landfall along the Alabama/Mississippi Coastlines overnight. 

The system is located approximately 30 miles east-southeast of Biloxi, Mississippi and 35 miles south-southwest of Mobile, Alabama.  

Maximum sustained winds are at 70 mph. It is moving to the northwest at 14 mph.

The following alerts are in effect:

A storm surge warning is in effect for:

  • Biloxi, Mississippi to Dauphin Island

A storm surge watch is in effect for:

  • East of Dauphin Island to Navarre

A hurricane warning is in effect for:

  • Mouth of the Pearl River to the Alabama-Florida Border

A tropical storm warning is in effect for:

  • Alabama-Florida Border to Okaloosa-Walton County Line

Storm surge of 1 to 5 feet will be possible along the Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana coastline near landfall.

It will weaken into a tropical depression on Wednesday after moving farther inland.

Tracking Hurricane Florence

Elsewhere in the tropics, Florence is now a Category 2 Hurricane as it moves across the Central Atlantic.

The winds are now up to 100 mph.

Florence is located approximately 1,260 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands.

It is moving to the west-northwest at 12 mph.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 15 miles from the storm’s center, with tropical storm force winds outward up to 105 miles. The minimum central pressure is 976 mb.

While Florence strengthened Tuesday night, a slow weakening is expected on Wednesday. Florence is expected to remain in the open waters of the Atlantic through midweek.

Forecast models are now suggesting that Florence could stay in the open waters of the Atlantic and not impact the U.S. Coastline. But, we will continue to monitor its track in the coming days. Intensity is forecast to vary the rest of this week.

There are no watches or warnings in effect as Florence is in the open waters.

Additional systems are possible over the next 1-2 weeks as we are now in the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season.

Atlantic hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.