Hurricane Florence Could Slam Massachusetts Next Week

A hurricane-turned-tropical storm churning hundreds of miles off the East Coast could be on track to hit land – with New England possibly in its crosshairs, experts warned. If things break a certain way, the storm could slam into the East Coast, as high up as Southern New England, around Wednesday and Thursday of next week, forecasters said.

Tropical storm Florence's 65-mile-per-hour winds were stirring up the Atlantic east of Bermuda early Friday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was at well over 100 mph Thursday as a category 3 hurricane, and it's expected to re-intensify as it moves northwest Friday.

Meteorologists said there is a very real chance the Northeastern US, from North Carolina to New England, will be affected.

There are two main ways for this to go the next several days, according to AccuWeather.

One way would see the storm turn north before curving northeast, limiting it a dangerous but indirect impact.

"Regardless of Florence's eventual track, large swells will begin to affect Bermuda on Friday and portions of the U.S. East Coast this weekend, resulting in life-threatening surf and rip currents," the National Hurricane Center said.

The other way would see the storm slam into as far north as Southern New England mid-week. This would yield a much stronger impact.

Florence is the first major hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic season. On Tuesday it was a category 4 hurricane, and it only regressed to a tropical storm late Thursday night.

Lead image by National Hurricane Center