Ian upgraded to Category 1 hurricane, heavy rains expected in North Carolina Friday

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Ian is now a Category 1 hurricane as it moves closer to the Unites States. Impacts from the storm could be seen in North Carolina starting Friday with increased rain totals.

Monday morning, the storm system was moving toward Cuba and forecasters expect it to rapidly strengthen to major hurricane status by the time it reaches the western part of the country. It has maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour and it was moving northwest at 14 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The center of Ian is expected to pass near or west of the Cayman Islands Monday, and near or over western Cuba tonight and early Tuesday. Ian will then move over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, and pass

west of the Florida Keys late Tuesday, and approach the west coast of Florida on Wednesday.

Ian will then weaken slightly before making a landfall somewhere along the Gulf Coast side of Florida.

The First Alert Weather Team said it’s still too early to give specifics about how Ian will impact our area, but one model suggests it will bring heavy rain and wind sometime around Friday and Saturday. Right now, that heavy rain would likely dump between 2-4 inches in most places in central North Carolina.

ABC11 will be monitoring all the shifts and changes that Ian makes over the next several days.