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This is the first major hurricane to strike the region in more than a decade. and the strongest storm to hit the continental united states this year. and a new forecast has just been released by the national hurricane center. congressman joaquin castro is standing by to join us live this hour. our correspondents, analysts and specialists, are also standing by. first, let s go straight to cnn meteorologist tom sader, tracking the storm for us. tom, the new forecast just coming into the cnn weather center. what does it say? just moments ago, wolf, the national hurricane center has lifted now the status of the storm to a category 3. and it s a mid level category 3. we re only ten miles per hour away from a category 4 status. and we do have that time and space still available. let s not concentrate on that. this is going to really impact northern florida, georgia, through the carolinas, with more force than we had with florence, completely different storms. florence was all about water. ....
And our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. first, let s go to cnn meteorologist tom sader. tell us more about the brand-new forecast for hurricane michael. wolf, just two days ago we had winds at 40 or yesterday really, 40 miles per hour, then it jumped to 85. we ve now seen another round of intensifying and sustained winds are at 120. this is a medium category three and only 10 miles away from a category 4 status. the gusts are at 150. little has changed with its forward momentum. it is about 290 miles south of panama city, moving due north at 12. that has not changed. landfall still looks to be the same, right around panama city. this will be the first time that we ve actually had a major category hurricane that s a 3, 4 or 5 make its way on this part of the panhandle. three previous category 3s have made landfall since 1950, but they ve been west of panama ....
Town. well, last thursday, wolf, we noticed this cluster of storms in the yucatan. it had only a 20% chance of developing. so the meteorological world was watching it. but really, when it started to take an organization, then, of course, everybody finds out about it. it s not like an atlantic storm, where we have a week s notice. so preparations have to be done today, or even by tomorrow morning. but evacuations are taking place even as we speak. i hope people heed those evacuation orders. our meteorologist, tom sader, thank you. we ll get back to you soon. i want to go quickly to our own brian todd. he s joining us from destiny, florida. that s a community especially vulnerable right now to this coming monster storm. what are you seeing there now? what do you expect, brian? wolf, i just heard you and tom talking about how fast this storm formed and how fast it s moving. that is really worrisome to people here. i m standing in between two critical pieces of infrastructure right n ....
Most of central california where the air pollution and air quality is so bad. you re starting to see some go into medical treatment to find out what s going on with the eyes burning and the throats. let s break these down. carr fire, over 89,000 acres scorched. only 5% contained. 3500 firefighters. they ve got a squadron of about 17 water dropping helicopters. so they have been able to get a little bit of a buffer on that. the cranston fire, 13,000 acres. that s the one that prompted a rare closure of yosemite national park. of course, ferguson is up to 30% containment. there s a lot going on. the problem is we have nothing in our favor. triple-digit temperatures, the winds are gusty and out of control and erratic. we re in a moderate drought. no rain in the forecast. and think about this. even the fires in oregon, fredricka, seattle s typical high temperature is 78 degrees. they re going to be in the low 90s in the next couple days. wish i had better news. our hearts are going out t ....
And all of our volunteers. our city is really coming together to give food, stand-up shelters. we carry on, and we ll get through this. the fire right now is still moving west and south. so they re trying to get a containment line on that. but it is a giant fire. it s going to require a lot of resources because of the winds. well, we wish you and your family the best. of course, also counting the blessings that you are all very safe. redding, california, police chief roger moore. thank you so much. all right. let s talk more about this explosive, dangerous fire behavior expected today in california. joining me right now, cnn meteorologist tom sader. talk to me about the condition there is, why people there are feeling like there is no end in sight. well, there s no rain in the forecast. the winds are erratic. fredricka, this has been a terrible couple weeks around the globe. last week 80 lives were lost in greece. for over two weeks, fires have ....