Florence arrives: Wind, surge, and rain impacts peak next 24 hours

The effects of Hurricane Florence are now raking the Carolina coast.

The storm's effects will last through the weekend. There are still model differences in precise track, but most agree the storm will stall and keep rain and wind across the southeast this weekend, and beyond

Here's the latest official NHC track.

Early impacts

In the early hours of the storm, we're already seeing overwash of some of the dunes along North Carolina's Outer Banks.

Storm surge is expected to go much higher over the next 24 hours. Flooding rainfall is still a threat. This is a double whammy for places like Wilmington, North Carolina. As the surge pushes water up rivers, heavy rains push water downstream. Where the waters meet, there is no place to go but higher.

Top winds with Florence have come down some. But the surge and flood threat is still very high. NOAA isn't pulling any punches with warning language.

Huge wind field

Overall winds have dropped some, but Florence is still a dangerously strong storm. Remember, Sandy was borderline Category 1 at landfall. Florence has a lot of kinetic energy in her wind field.

Here's a live link to the coast at Frying Pan Shoals south of Wilmington, NC.