Dorian strengthens further, now tied for second-strongest Atlantic storm

Enlarge / Hurricane Dorian's satellite appearance on Sunday morning. (credit: NOAA)

5pm ET Sunday Update: Hurricane Dorian continues to pound the northern Bahamas, and has strengthened a little bit further on Sunday. As of 5pm CT (21:00 UTC), Dorian has a central pressure of 910 millibars, and maximum winds of 185mph.

Such a maximum sustained wind speed places Dorian in very rare company when it comes to historical hurricane record in the Atlantic. Only Hurricane Allen, in 1980, recorded stronger winds in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, or Gulf of Mexico. Three other hurricanes have recorded winds as strong as Dorian-the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, Gilbert (1988), and Wilma (2005).

The overall forecast remains more or less the same. In a couple of days Dorian will approach the Florida peninsula. The most likely scenario is that Dorian remains offshore as it traces an arc up the Southeastern United States coast, but all scenarios remain on the table, including a Florida landfall.

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