MIAMI — Hurricane Ian — yes, it is a hurricane again — has left Florida, but isn’t done yet.
Ian, which left a stretch of the Southwest Florida coast in ruins as a Cat 4 and crossed the state as a tropical storm, is on the way to South Carolina.
Hurricane conditions and a “life-threatening storm surge” are forecast for the Carolina coast by Friday afternoon, according to the National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory.
Ian, now a Category 1 hurricane, will approach and reach the coast of South Carolina Friday, then move farther inland and into central North Carolina Friday night and Saturday.
The National Hurricane Center’s update at 5 a.m. Friday puts Ian about 145 miles southeast of Charleston. The center of the storm will move farther inland across the Carolinas Friday night and Saturday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 85 mph, with higher gusts. That will stay the same as Ian makes landfall later Friday, before the hurricane weakens on Saturday, according to the center’s Friday morning advisory.
Hurricane-force winds extend up to 45 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 415 miles. The storm is traveling north-northeast at 9 mph.
Watches and warnings
▪ A hurricane warning spans the Savannah River to Cape Fear. The hurricane center warrns of “flooding rains” likely across the Carolinas and southwestern Virginia.
▪ A storm surge warning is in effect from the Flagler-Volusia line in Florida to Cape Fear in North Carolina, and for the St. Johns River in Florida.
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