SUNDAY AM UPDATE: Florence to become a hurricane later today

ROANOKE, Va. – As of the 5 a.m. update from the National Hurricane Center, Florence is still a tropical storm. It is expected to regain Category 1 status Sunday, with further strengthening anticipated as Florence moves over warmer ocean waters. 

In the coming days, Florence will slowly begin its approach towards the East Coast. There's now little room for this storm to skirt out to sea.

Virginia, in fact, is now included in the National Hurricane Center's forecast cone (shown above). This is supposed to show the area in which the storm's center may be by next Thursday and Friday. The larger the cone, the greater the uncertainty is. 

Generally speaking, there are two schools of thought with regards to Florence. It either makes landfall, or it rides along the coast. 

Here's what that would mean for our area.

If Florence makes landfall near Charleston-Myrtle Beach-Wilmington, this would more than likely mean a very high flood threat for us Friday and Saturday. Severe weather would be possible too by Friday. 

If Florence rides the coast, it would be a huge blow to the Outer Banks but less of an impact on us. We'd be on the west side of the system, which is typically the drier side. 

We're still ironing out details, as any potential impact is still five-to-six days away, so be sure to stay tuned for updates over the course of the next week.