Cutting it close: Florida's fate may be a matter of miles

For Florida, just a handful of miles may make a huge difference in Hurricane Dorian’s slow dance with the coast.

The National Hurricane Center forecasts Dorian to be 40 to 50 miles off the Florida coast on Tuesday and Wednesday, with hurricane-force wind speeds extending about 35 miles to the west.

But that’s just one point that forecasters have to choose to place the monstrous storm that packed 185 mph winds on Sunday. It could be within 100 miles of that point, which is why the hurricane center uses – and emphasizes – a shaded cone of uncertainty.

And much of the Florida coast is inside that cone.

“This thing is perilously close to the state. I think we should all hope and pray for the best, but we have to prepare that this could have major impacts on the state of Florida, “said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “If you look at the National Hurricane Center’s current track, I think it ends up within 30 miles of the coast of Florida. Well guess what? You do just a touch of a bump one way or another, and you have a dramatic difference all of a sudden. “

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Hurricane Dorian See Gallery

This Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019 image provided by NASA shows a view of Hurricane Dorian from the International Space Station as it churned over the Atlantic Ocean north of Puerto Rico. Leaving mercifully little damage in its wake in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Hurricane Dorian swirled toward the U.S., with forecasters warning it will draw energy from the warm, open waters as it closes in. (NASA via AP) *******

Store shelves are empty of bottled water as residents buy supplies in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, in Doral, Fla., Thursday, July 29, 2019. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Dorian could hit the Florida coast over the weekend as a major hurricane. (AP Photo / Marcus Lim)

Shoppers prepare ahead of Hurricane Dorian at The Home Depot on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019, in Pembroke Pines, Fla. (AP Photo / Brynn Anderson) *******

Empty shelves are seen with a sign at Costco stating that the retailer is currently sold out of water ahead of Hurricane Dorian on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019, in Davie, Fla. (AP Photo / Brynn Anderson) *******

National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham, left, looks on as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks about Tropical Storm Dorian outside of the National Hurricane Center, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019, in Miami. (AP Photo / Lynne Sladky)

This GOES – 16 satellite image taken Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019, at (**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************: 20 UTC and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), shows Hurricane Dorian , right, moving over open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Dorian was expected to grow into a potentially devastating Category 3 hurricane before hitting the U.S. mainland late Sunday or early Monday somewhere between the Florida Keys and southern Georgia. (NOAA via AP)

Shoppers wait in long lines at Costco, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019, in Davie, Fla., as they stock up on supplies ahead of Hurricane Dorian. (AP Photo / Brynn Anderson) *******

MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA – AUGUST 30: People walk to their boat through a flooded parking lot at the Haulover Marine Center before the arrival of Hurricane Dorian on August 30, 2019 in Miami Beach , Florida. The high water was due to King tide which may cause additional problems as Hurricane Dorian arrives in the area as a possible Category 4 storm along the Florida coast. (Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA – AUGUST 30: Weston Rice drives through a flooded parking lot as he prepares to drop his jet ski into the water at the Haulover Marine Center before the arrival of Hurricane Dorian on August 30, 2019 in Miami Beach, Florida. The high water was due to King tide which may cause additional problems as Hurricane Dorian arrives in the area as a possible Category 4 storm along the Florida coast. (Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

A man stands on a store’s roof as he works to prepare it for the arrival of Hurricane Dorian in Freeport on Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Hurricane Dorian intensified yet again Sunday as it closed in on the northern Bahamas, threatening to batter islands with Category 5-strength winds, pounding waves and torrential rain. (AP Photo / Ramon Espinosa)

This GOES – 16 satellite image taken Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, at 17: 00 UTC and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), shows Hurricane Dorian, right, churning over the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane Dorian struck the northern Bahamas on Sunday as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, its 185 mph winds ripping off roofs and tearing down power lines as hundreds hunkered in schools, churches and other shelters. (NOAA via AP)

President Donald Trump, left, listens as Kenneth Graham, director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, on screen, gives an update during a briefing about Hurricane Dorian at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Sunday, September 1, 2019, in Washington, at right of Trump is Acting Administrator Pete Gaynor, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler, and Neil Jacobs, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction. (AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing about Hurricane Dorian at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, in Washington, as Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, left, looks on. (AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin)

People walk on a largely deserted beach of the Atlantic Ocean on the barrier island in Vero Beach, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. The barrier island is under a voluntary evacuation today and a mandatory evacuation tomorrow in preparation for the possibility of Hurricane Dorian making landfall. (AP Photo / Gerald Herbert)

RIVIERA BEACH, FLORIDA – SEPTEMBER 1: Workers place shutters over the windows of a Food Mart store as the owner prepares just in case Hurricane Dorian hits the area on September 1, 2019 in Riviera Beach, Florida. Dorian was projected to make landfall along the Florida coast but now projections have it making a sharp turn to the north as it closes in on Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

Tree branches are seen in the road during the approach of Hurricane Dorian on September 1, 2019 in Nassau, Bahamas. – Hurricane Dorian strengthened into a catastrophic Category 5 storm Sunday, packing (mph) 267 kph) winds as it was about to slam into the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas, US weather forecasters said. “# Dorian is now a category 5 #hurricane with 160 mph sustained winds, “the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in a tweet . “The eyewall of this catastrophic hurricane is about to hit the Abaco Islands with devastating winds,” it said.The slow moving storm was expected to linger over the Bahamas through Sunday and much of Monday, dumping up to 25 inches of rain in some areas and unleashing storm surges of 10 to 15 – feet, forecasters said. (Photo by Lucy WORBOYS / AFP) (Photo credit should read LUCY WORBOYS / AFP / Getty Images)

The entrance to Wambasso Beach County Park is closed in Wambasso Beach, Florida on September 1, 2019, ahead of Hurricane Dorian. – Hurricane Dorian unleashed “catastrophic conditions” as it hit the northern Bahamas, lashing the low-lying island chain with devastating (mph) 285 kph) winds, the most intense in its modern history. Florida residents, meanwhile, were bracing for a potentially dangerous brush with the storm as it slowly turns north after passing the Bahamas. (Photo by Adam DelGiudice / AFP) (Photo credit should read ADAM DELGIUDICE / AFP / Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump receives a briefing at the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) on Hurricane Dorian in Washington, DC, on September 1, 2019. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP) (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP / Getty Images)

ATLANTIC OCEAN – SEPTEMBER 1: In this NOAA GOES-East satellite handout image, Hurricane Dorian, now a Cat. 5 storm, tracks towards the Florida coast taken at 13: 20 Z September 1 , 2019 in the Atlantic Ocean. A hurricane warning is in effect for much of the northwestern Bahamas as it gets hit with 175 mph winds. According to the National Hurricane Center Dorian is predicted to hit the U.S. as a Category 4 storm. (Photo by NOAA via Getty Images)

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Center Director Ken Graham is telling residents don’t bet on safety just because his office specific forecast track has the storm just a bit offshore.

“The cone is so important,” Graham said.

And making matters more touch-and-go is that with every new forecast, “we keep nudging (Dorian’s track) a little bit to the left, “which is closer to the Florida coast, he said.

Dorian is a powerful but small hurricane with hurricane -force winds Sunday only extending 29 miles to the west, but they are expecting to grow a bit. That makes forecasting the storm’s path along the coast – either just off the coast, skirting it or moving inland with a direct hit – delicate and difficult. Just a few miles west or east makes the difference between devastation and bad but not horrible damage, meteorologists said.

“Where it doesn’t directly hit, it’s not going to be a huge problem, “Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach said.

With a big, sloppy hurricane – say 50% larger in size – all of Florida would be under a serious threat, but that’s not the case, said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy.

This is what makes this a nightmare for forecasters, McNoldy said.

It’s a combination of the small size, close-in track, l ike Matthew in 2016, and weak steering currents. That means just a smidge of a movement days ahead of time, while Dorian is in the Bahamas, can reverberate and mean a direct hit or not, said private meteorologist Ryan Maue.

That can happen just because of the timing of when Dorian’s eyewall collapses and is replaced, which happens normally in storms.

Adding to that problem is Dorian’s slow , almost snail-like pace. What initially looked like a Labor Day storm for the U.S. is now approaching Tuesday and Wednesday.

“People are getting impatient with this,” McNoldy said. Because the threat seems to keep sticking around, it could be a problem getting the right message across, he said.

Klotzbach said he thinks the U.S. East Coast will get “scraped,” but Dorian will stay just offshore, something Maue agrees with.

Maue warns, however, that two days of high waves and heavy storm surge – the hurricane center is predicting 4 to 7 feet from West Palm Beach north to Cocoa Beach area – could severely damage Florida’s beaches.

Residents along Florida’s coast are relieved that the forecast, for now, doesn’t have Dorian making landfall in Florida, but are still preparing for the worst.

Kevin Browning in Vero Beach has put up hurricane shutters, bought a generator and is stocked with supplies.

“I’m thanking God, now, that it’s turned a little bit towards the east, but that’s a forecast, and we never know. I’m just praying and trying to make sure that everybody’s safe. I feel for the Bahamas and I’m praying for them, and I thank God it’s not coming directly to us right now. “

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Associated Press writers Gerald Herb ert in Vero Beach, Florida, and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida, contributed.