Joaquin is an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane at 8 p.m. Thursday. The central Bahamas will continue to experience hurricane-force winds, storm surge and heavy rain through Thursday night.

Though Joaquin is not a direct threat to Florida, it has already begun to create hazardous beach conditions along our Atlantic coast, which will continue through the weekend. High waves and rip currents will threaten the Centrla Florida coast for the next few days.

A Coastal Flood Advisory has been issued for Flagler County through Friday.

Joaqiun's track is uncertain past a couple of days. Models have the storm impacting the U.S. East Coast anywhere from North Carolina up to New York.

Summary: 5 p.m. Thursday

  • Location: 22.9 N, 74.6 W
  • How far is it?
    • 75 mi. S of San Salvador
    • 412 mi. ESE of Miami
    • 525 mi. SE of Melbourne
    • 569 mi. SE of Orlando
    • 594 mi. SE of Daytona Beach
  • Winds: 130 mph (Category 4)
  • Movement: W at 3 mph
  • Pressure: 935 mb / 27.61 inches

Joaquin impacts coastal conditions

Red flags are being flown at both Brevard and Volusia county beaches and will throughout the weekend.

This is a popular time for surfers to catch some big waves. Joaquin is a category 4 hurricane, with winds exceeding 130 miles per hour. All of that leads to swells that ripple through the ocean and give us those tall waves.

On Thursday the waves reached between four and six feet. Some surfers we talked to say they traveled hours to be here and will be out here again Friday to catch some even bigger waves.

“The waves are a good size. Now that low tide is coming up the waves are getting a little bit bigger," surfer Shaun Swartz said. "There’s a few rip currents here and there. So not your typical day at the beach, for sure.”

On Friday the waves could be as tall as seven feet and this weekend they could be as tall as nine feet.

While this may sound like a surfer’s dream, lifeguards say it becomes a major issues when surfers go out and get caught in these dangerous rip currents.

A handful of surfers had to be rescued Thursday and they expect more as the Hurricane Joaquin continues to move north along our coastline.

Map of Joaquin's latest observed position

Map of Joaquin's forecast track

Mapped spaghetti plot of Joaquin's possible paths

Current tropical warnings

Current tropical watches

Watch our exclusive Storm Threat 2015 special on Bright House Networks Local on Demand, Channel 999.