Hurricane Dorian strengthens into extremely dangerous category 4 storm

Hurricane Dorian became a potentially devastating Category 4 storm Friday evening as it continued to churn in the Atlantic Ocean on its course to the south-eastern United States early next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm grew to a Category 4 hurricane Friday evening, and as of early Saturday it had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, the hurricane center said.

The hurricane posed a "significant threat" to the north-western Bahamas and Florida, the center said. "Some strengthening is possible today," it added.

Dorian was expected to move over the Atlantic "well north of the south-eastern and central Bahamas" Saturday, and to be near or over the north-western Bahamas on Sunday. The hurricane is forecast to be near Florida's east coast late Monday, the hurricane center said.

President Donald Trump said he would discuss possible evacuations Sunday in a scheduled meeting with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials.

"We were thinking about Florida evacuations, but it’s a little bit too soon," Trump said. "We’ll probably have to make that determination on Sunday.

The storm has the potential to become an extremely dangerous Category 4 over the next several days and was forecast to reach top winds of up to 140 mph in the next 72 hours.

Dorian could be the first Category 4 or higher hurricane to make landfall on Florida's east coast since 1992, when Hurricane Andrew was blamed for 44 deaths in the state. Anything at Category 3 or above is considered a major hurricane