Fiona is the first major hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic season. Where is it going now?

Category 3 Hurricane Fiona, the first major hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, is continuing to move north away from Turks and Caicos as it pummels the region Tuesday. The storm is expected to further strengthen into a Category 4 hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center is also watching Tropical Storm Gaston in the north-central Atlantic, and a disturbance near the Caribbean that could turn into a tropical depression in the next few days. Forecasters on Tuesday afternoon also began watching a disturbance that is off the African coast, though that system has low formation chances.

While Fiona is not a threat to Florida or the rest of the United States, the country’s East Coast could feel ocean swells, which could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Where is the storm going and how strong will it get?

Here’s what the forecast shows:

Where is Hurricane Fiona now?

Hurricane Fiona was about 95 miles north of North Caicos and about 760 miles southwest of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph with higher gusts, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 11 p.m. advisory Tuesday.

Fiona’s hurricane-force winds extended 45 miles from its center, a slight growth from earlier Tuesday, and its tropical-storm force winds extended out 160 miles.

Where is Fiona going?

Fiona is moving north near 8 mph, a slowdown from earlier Tuesday, and a turn toward the north-northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected by Thursday.

“On the forecast track, the center of Fiona will continue to move away from the Turks and Caicos tonight and Wednesday, and approach Bermuda late on Thursday,” the hurricane center said.

Forecasters think Fiona will strengthen into a Category 4 storm by early Wednesday afternoon. The forecast shows the system as a Cat 4 with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph by the time it nears Bermuda.

Once the storm passes Bermuda, the forecast shows Fiona starting to weaken as it begins to interact with a “vigorous mid-troposphere trough and the system is expected to become a large and powerful extratropical cyclone near Atlantic Canada,” the hurricane center said.

Forecasters say this should start Fiona’s extratropical transition, though once complete, Fiona will still be a “large and powerful” cyclone.

READ MORE: Shutdown ordered as Turks and Caicos Islands brace for Hurricane Fiona

Hurricane Fiona watches and warnings

Here are the hurricane center’s watches and warnings for Fiona:

▪ Tropical Storm Watch in effect for: Bermuda.

As of the 11 p.m. advisory, all warnings for Southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos have been discontinued.

Fiona’s hazards

Flooding rain is forecast to impact the Turks and Caicos through Tuesday night, continuing a risk of flooding, according to the hurricane center. Forecasters expect Turks and Caicos could see an additional 1 to 3 inches of rain with storm totals of 5 to 10 inches, with the southeast Bahamas seeing 1 to 4 inches of rain.

Forecasters expect heavy rain will also continue over portions of the Dominican Republic Tuesday.

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How much rain?

The eastern section of the Dominican Republic will likely see a total rainfall of up to 20 inches from Fiona, forecasters said.

Fiona’s swells are also continuing to affect the northern coast of Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos islands, and the southeastern and central Bahamas.

“These swells will continue to spread westward across the southwestern Atlantic toward the northwestern Bahamas and the East Coast of the United States during the next day or two. Swells from Fiona are expected to reach Bermuda by early Thursday,” the hurricane center said. “The swells could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.”