Wind gusts in central Georgia could be as high as 40-50 mph as Ian tracks to the east.
As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, Ian is a major hurricane, with sustained winds of 155 mph, just 2 mph short of category 5 status. Ian now has its sights set on landfall shortly near Sanibel Island and Fort Myers, Florida.
Hurricane Warnings blanket central Florida, including cities like Naples, Fort Myers, Port Charlotte, Sarasota, Tampa, Sebring, Lakeland and Orlando. They are also in effect along the Atlantic Coast now, including Melbourne, Cape Canaveral, and Daytona Beach.
In Georgia, the Tropical Storm Warning includes Chatham, Bryan, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Glynn, Camden, Charlton, Brantley, Wayne, and Liberty Counties.
Storm surge is possible along the coast as well. It could be as high as 3-5 feet along the entire Georgia coast.
Ian is expected to make landfall today very close to Port Charlotte and Fort Myers as a major hurricane. From there, it will cross the Florida peninsula and reemerge over the Atlantic near Daytona Beach as a tropical storm.
The forecast cone from the National Hurricane Center then turns it inland near Savannah and tracks up the Savannah River late Friday and into Saturday.
With this cone, this would keep Central Georgia on the better side of the storm from a severe weather potential. There will be very little tornado threat but the wind threat will still be in play.
Wind ahead of the storm will begin as early as mid-morning Thursday with gusts up to 30-35 mph through the day on Thursday. Then on Friday, gusts will go a bit higher, potentially up to 40-45 mph, with locally higher gusts.
These winds will be prevalent because of the pressure gradient ahead of the storm, a very similar set-up as to when Irma pushed through.
Central Georgia will be on the edge of the rainfall. As of now, the forecast is for 1-3 inches with higher amounts to the east.
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