Michael, now a major Category 4 hurricane, is packing winds of 140 mph. It's moving north at about 13 mph, located about 100 miles south-southwest of Panama City, Florida, where it is expected to make landfall at about 1 p.m.
In this area, heavy rainfall is likely Thursday into Thursday evening. A cold front will approach from the west and a tropical moisture plume will stream in from the south between offshore high pressure and Michael, which is expected to be a tropical storm moving through the Southeast states at that time, the National Weather Service said in a Hazardous Weather Statement released early Wednesday morning.
Following morning showers, heavy rain will arrive after 11 a.m. Thursday and continue through the evening.
Thunderstorms capable of producing some isolated damaging wind gusts are possible in the afternoon and evening.
Up to an inch of rain is possible. Thursday's high will be in the mid-70s.
Showers will taper off Friday morning by around 9 a.m. as Michael will exit the coast of the Atlantic as the cold front pushes it out to sea.
The passage of the cold front will lead to a much cooler day Friday with the temperature falling to the upper-50s by mid-afternoon. Saturday's high will only be in the upper-50s under mostly sunny skies.
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