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Hurricane Florence may have been downgraded to a tropical storm, but experts are predicting that it will get its second wind over the weekend.
And that could spell trouble for the East Coast next week.
Experts are predicting that Florence could restrengthen to a potential Category 3 hurricane by Monday, and new models show the odds have increased that the storm could potentially slam into the United States between Florida and Southern New England.
"At this point, there are several possibilities for the track and intensity for Florence," said NBC News meteorologist Sherri Pugh.
"We’re continuing to monitor the forecast to see how potentially weak or strong Florence will be and whether there is the possibility of landfall."
In the worst case scenarios, Florence could hit the East Coast middle to late next week, Pugh said.
Some models, though, predict the storm could make an early turn north and leave the East Coast with little more than high tides and rip currents.
"There's no sense in worrying just yet. Right now there’s just too much uncertainty," said Dennis Feltgen, communications officer for the National Hurricane Center. "What folks need to do this weekend is to come up with a hurricane plan. That’s all they have to do right now.
"That’s their homework assignment."
Florence became the first official major Atlantic hurricane of the 2018 season on Wednesday when it surged to a Category 4.
As of 11 a.m. EST Friday, the storm was 935 miles south east of Bermuda and moving westward at eight miles an hour with sustained winds of 65 miles per hour.
