NHC NOAA (970 WFLA) At 800 PM EDT (0000 UTC), the center of the eye of Hurricane Michael was located by NOAA Doppler weather radars near latitude 31.5 North, longitude 84.5 West. Michael is moving toward the northeast near 17 mph (28 km/h), and this general motion should continue tonight. A motion toward the northeast at a faster forward speed is expected on Thursday through Friday night. On the forecast track, the core of Michael will move across southwestern and central Georgia tonight, and move through east-central Georgia Thursday morning. Michael will then move northeastward across the southeastern United States through late Thursday, and then move off the Mid-Atlantic coast by early Friday.
Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 90 mph (150 km/h) with higher gusts. Michael will steadily weaken as it crosses the southeastern United States through Thursday night, becoming a tropical storm by Thursday morning. Michael is forecast to re-strengthen some Thursday night and Friday when it moves off the east coast of the United States and becomes a post-tropical cyclone on Friday.