HOLT, Fla., Aug. 29, 2019—The National Hurricane Center now forecasts landfall winds to reach 125 mph making Dorian a strong category 3 hurricane.

The NHC is forecasting the storm to strengthen quickly growing into a category 3 storm within the next 36 hours and it’s expected to maintain that status until it reaches land.

With lower shear and very warm waters, all of the models forecast Dorian to begin strengthening again soon, and rapid intensification could occur, according to the NHC.

The storm strengthened to a hurricane as it moved between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico yesterday, avoiding land that would have had an impact on its growth.

Dorian is moving toward the northwest near 13 mph and this general motion is expected to continue through Friday.

A west-northwestward turn is forecast to begin Friday night and continue into the weekend.

It’s still too early to determine what Dorian will do once it reaches Florida. For now, the western panhandle is outside of the NHC’s cone of uncertainty.