MIDWAY, Fla. (WTXL) -- Waves and winds whipping up against the Atlantic coast of Florida will only worsen as night falls, because of the impending approach of major Hurricane Matthew.
Hurricane Matthew sliced through the central and northern Bahamas islands Thursday, intensifying throughout its path, and reaching Category 4 strength late Thursday afternoon.
Hurricane Matthew had peak winds of 130 miles per hour late Thursday night, with gusts of 165 mph, and its center was located about 50 miles east-southeast of Fort Pierce, moving to the northwest at 13 mph.
Hurricane warnings are up for many parts of the Florida East Coast, from north of Golden Beach in south Florida to the Florida/Georgia line and beyond. Hurricane conditions are possible in the warning zone within 36 hours.
Tropical storm watches exist along the Florida Suncoast, while tropical storm warnings exist in interior peninsula counties, north into the Osceola National Forest area of northeast Florida.
The nearest tropical-related warnings to the Big Bend area are in the waters of Apalachee Bay, and over land in Levy and Columbia counties.
There are no counties in the Big Bend or southwest Georgia that are in any sort of tropical-related watch or warning.
The expectations for local conditions as Matthew passes to the east have not drastically changed. For the Big Bend and southwest Georgia, it is important to remind readers that this is not a repeat situation that was created by Hurricane Hermine in early September. The core of Hurricane Matthew will remain well east of the WTXL viewing region.
Direct impacts will be minimized locally, especially areas west of the U.S. 19 corridor. In fact, some locations near the Apalachicola River may remain mostly sunny and dry Friday, with warm temperatures as the hurricane passes to the east.
Even though some indirect impacts are forecast, the region will escape the brunt of the hurricane.
If Matthew's eye (the central part of the storm) takes a path closer to the coast, or even moves just inland from the coast, areas of rain and occasional gusts from the hurricane's outer rain bands, possibly near tropical-storm-force at times, may be experienced around and east of Interstate 75 and in the Suwannee River Valley Friday.
As Matthew departs the Florida/Georgia area Saturday, its circulation will aid in propelling a cold front and a drier air mass into the region, which will promote rain-free conditions and trigger a cooling trend for early next week.
Long-range forecast modeling suggests what's left of Hurricane Matthew may be cut off from any strong steering flow, which may cause the system to wander farther offshore in the western Atlantic into early next week. Matthew is forecast to weaken considerably, falling to tropical-storm level by early next week, perhaps somewhere in the location of the Bahamas again.
