BREAKING NEWS – Hurricane Dorian was forecast to become an “extremely dangerous major hurricane” today as it churned on its course to the Bahamas and southeastern U.S. over the next several days, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm posed “a significant threat” to the Bahamas and Florida and has maximum sustained winds near 110 mph, just one mile away from becoming a major Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, the center said.

The storm was expected to continue strengthening as it headed toward the northwestern Bahamas and Florida peninsula, the center said Friday.

As of midmorning today, Dorian was about 480 miles east of the northwestern Bahamas and was expected to move over the Atlantic north of the southeastern and central Bahamas. It was then expected to move near or over parts of the northwestern Bahamas on Sunday and be near the Florida peninsula late Monday, the center said.

“Dorian is expected to become a major hurricane later today, and it will remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane while it moves near the northwestern Bahamas and approaches the Florida peninsula into early next week,” the center said.

The storm has the potential to become an extremely dangerous Category 4 over the next several days and was forecast to reach top winds of up to 140 mph in the next 72 hours.

Dorian could be the first Category 4 or higher hurricane to make landfall on Florida’s east coast since 1992, when Hurricane Andrew was blamed for 44 deaths in the state. Anything at Category 3 or above is considered a major hurricane.