Hurricane Ophelia now has maximum sustained winds of 85mph with higher gusts and a very large eye, almost 70 miles in diameter. Her overall presentation on satellite images is rather poor, but radar does show good banding of rain squalls near the storms center. Ophelia looks to make landfall somewhere near the Morehead City area within the next 12-18 hours.


Morehead City doppler radar rainfall estimates are approaching 1 foot in some regions of extreme southeastern North Carolina. Heavy rainfall and a very slight risk of an isolated tornado embedded in individual squalls will persist for the next 12 hours at least n NC.


After moving past the 35th parallel, Ophelia should begin to accelerate quickly to the northeast as a she gets absorbed into a vigorous mid level trof (surface cold front) approaching from the west.

Weather across the Mid Atlantic shouldn't be affected too much by Ophelia. Areas near the eastern shore and east of the I-95 corridor have the best chance of seeing some precipitation.