WINDS | Typhoon-force winds pushed Hurricane Maria from the Philippines into Vietnam Saturday afternoon, killing at least five people and wreaking havoc on a tourist resort. As of midnight Friday, Typhoon Maria was recorded as a Category 1-Cat 2, just two-notches down from potential Category 5 intensity. It weakened to a Category 2 in the South China Sea overnight, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Hurricane-force winds will hit the eastern Pacific Saturday night, affecting most of Guam early Sunday morning, 5 a.m. ET.
The most powerful eastern Pacific typhoon this year, Maria will strengthen again into a Category 3- Cat 4 storm, tracking northwest near 130 mph Saturday afternoon and en route to a major hurricane Saturday night over the South China Sea.
Maria will shift to the northwest and come ashore near the northern Philippines on Sunday as a powerful storm after drenching the capital of Manila. It will weaken by midweek.
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A moist Bermuda high will track from southern Bermuda to the U.S. East Coast and Florida by Saturday evening. This warm air will fuel convective showers and thunderstorms across the mid-Atlantic and New England on Saturday, but the precipitation chances will decline as the weekend progresses.
Monday brings higher chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms for much of the East Coast, while pockets of showers remain south of I-95. In Florida, the risks of severe thunderstorms will be greatest through Saturday in the afternoon.
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Meanwhile in the western Atlantic, a tropical depression is expected to make landfall in the Cabo Verde Islands on Friday night. However, Maria will bring a substantial rain contrast and potential flooding to the Caribbean in the meantime.
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