[LIVE BLOG] Tracking Hurricane Joaquin

A powerful hurricane is lashing the Bahamas. This should produce historic rain totals over parts of the Mid-Atlantic United States.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on October 1, 2015, distributed a satellite image acquired by GOES East of Hurricane Joaquin in the Western Atlantic Ocean.

Thursday afternoon, the U.S. Hurricane Center said Joaquin had strengthened and is becoming an “extremely unsafe Category 4 storm”. Forecasters expect the storm to stay offshore of the Eastern USA, but there will still be coastal flooding and very heavy rains all the way up the seaboard.

As of about 8:30 a.m. ET, Joaquin’s eye was located about 70 miles southeast of San Salvador in the Bahamas, near Samana Cay. It was moving southwest at 6 miles per hour (9 kph).

Hurricane conditions are expected to continue in portions of the Central Bahamas through Friday. As it grows over the Bahamas, forecasters say it is headed north west toward the U.S. But where it will hit seems to be a frightening mystery.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the Central Bahamas and Northwestern Bahamas including the Abacos, Berry Islands, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama Island, and New Providence. A watch is in effect for the remaining islands as well as the Turks and Caicos and Andros Island. Heavy rain will be the first threat to the region on Thursday and Friday.

Hurricane Joaquin is gaining steam and was upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane early Thursday.

However, Eric Horst, director of Millersville University’s Weather Information Center, said the most reliable models show the storm tracking to the east, turning toward Bermuda.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency for all 100 counties in North Carolina.

States like New Jersey and New York that were devastated by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 are particularly wary.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says depending on its path, Joaquin could intensify the storms’ damage.

Marina and marine industry insurance provider Gowrie Group issued a hurricane storm center on its website, giving boaters and boat businesses preparedness tips. Joaquin is projected to be a tropical storm once it gets that far north. Direct impacts of the storm will be low, with a five to 19 percent chance of tropical storm-level winds from the storm in South Carolina, he said. Between 10 and 15 inches of rain has been forecast over a 72-hour period from Friday through Sunday – with as much as 20 inches in a few places.