(Miami, FL) -- Michael is now a Category 2 hurricane.
Data from a hurricane hunter aircraft indicates maximum sustained winds have increased to near 100 miles an hour with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is expected and forecasters at the National Hurricane Center predict Michael will be a major hurricane at landfall in Florida's Panhandle or Big Bend regions tomorrow.
As of 8 a.m. Eastern time, Michael was located 395 miles south of Panama City and moving north-northwest at 12 miles an hour. A hurricane warning remains in effect from the Mississippi-Alabama border east to the Suwannee River in Florida and there's a storm surge warning along Florida's Gulf coast from the Okaloosa-Walton County line in the Panhandle to the Anclote River in the Tampa Bay area.
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