11:00 PM UPDATE:

3:00 PM TROPIC TOPICS UPDATE:

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) — Idalia continues to strengthen, Franklin and South facing coastal areas of Gulf County need to prepare for a hurricane. Hurricane prep should be done by tomorrow night.

For the panhandle, it’s all about the shifts any shift west brings bigger impacts to the area and any shift to the east will reduce the impacts. This will have a very tight gradient between impacts and nothing with us on the west side of the system.

The storm is likely to make landfall in the Bend the main concern for us will be how close the eye wall can get to Franklin county Coastal areas.

My concern is for the Islands and Aligator Point where the Eye-wall could be very close. A slight wobble to the west will bring a much bigger impact to Franklin County.

A bigger shift will bring a higher impact to the rest of the area but that is unlikely for now.

Keep up with the latest information as a Major storm works across the Gulf of Mexico.