He is a monster. He continues to grow stronger late tonight in the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico some 300 miles south of Panama City. Here are some brief notes from a conference call with the National Hurricane Center, courtesy of the NWS Birmingham:

.....Landfall late Sunday afternoon
.....Dennis is now a major hurricane, a Category 3
.....He may be upgraded to a Category 4 on the next advisory
.....Storm surge up to 17 feet east of landfall
.....Concern about sand dunes lost last year in Ivan
.....Rainfall of 4 to 8 inches and locally up to 12 inches
.....Tornado Watch shortly for the Florida Panhandle
.....Much of the state of Florida under a Tornado Watch
.....Hurricane should maintain significant strength inland
.....Dennis may also slow down significantly after going inland

That last bullet point is worrisome. If Dennis slows down inland, we can't imagine how much rain will be dumped on the landscape.

After making landfall on the Alabama-NW Florida coast late Sunday afternoon, Dennis will move toward the north and NW passing through West Alabama into Eastern Mississippi. The earlier advisories indicated landfall fairly early Sunday afternoon, so this indicates a slowing down of everything. In Central Alabama, our worst weather now appears to be Sunday night through Monday morning and maybe longer.

In Central Alabama, we will have a risk of damaging winds with trees and power lines down. You can almost be assured of a Tornado Watch for virtually the entire state at some point during the northward trek of Dennis. These are the spin-off tornadoes that form quickly and don't stay on the ground very long. They are difficult to detect and warn for.

TONIGHT'S THUNDERSTORMS
The National Weather Service has posted a Flash Flood Watch for West-Central Jefferson County until 12:30 a.m. Thunderstorms in that area are moving little. It affects mainly the Minor community. These thunderstorms earlier tonight dumped 2.54 inches of rain between Trussville and Leeds, 1.43 in NE Trussville and 1.73 at Bill Murray's home in the south part of Trussville.

OTHER NOTES HAVING TO DO WITH DENNIS
The Pensacola buoy located 135 miles to the ESE, reporting ENE winds of 28 with gusts to 36 mph and 10-foot waves. The water temperature is 83.

Buoy 42036, located in the East Gulf 128 miles west of Tampa, reporting east winds averaging 38 mph with gusts to 47 and 17-foot waves. The water temperature 86.

That line of thunderstorms continues to move north through North Alabama.

At 8 pm, the line extended from North Tuscaloosa County eastward across North Jefferson to near Gadsden. Lots of lightning with these storms and locally heavy rain with gusty winds. Two rainfall reports:

1.42 inches in 40 minutes in NE Trussville
2.54 inches between Trussville and Leeds (reported by Justin Hindman, 3340 Weather Watcher)

But our main concern is Hurricane Dennis growing explosively in the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

At 8 tonight, Dennis was centered about 275 miles south of Panama City moving NW at 13 mph. Maxium sustained winds now an amazing 125 mph with higher gusts.

The National Hurricane Center now believes he may reach a Category 4 before making landfall somewhere on the northern Gulf Coast Sunday afternoon. The most favored area seems to be the Alabama-Northwest Florida Coast. A Hurricane Warning is already in place.

If this does happen, it will be devastating.

More updates later...

A line of thunderstorms continues to march northward through North Central Alabama, At 7:10 pm, the line of storms extended from Pickens County in West Alabama, eastward across the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham-Anniston area.

Loads of lightning, Locally heavy rain.

These storms are partially due to the overall circulation from Dennis. A seabreeze front moved northward all the way from the Gulf today. Afternoon heating also helped.

This is, by far, not the main effects of Dennis. For Central Alabama that will come later Sunday, Sunday night and through Monday morning.

HURRICANE DENNIS SPECIAL DISCUSSION NUMBER 22
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
7 PM EDT SAT JUL 09 2005

WHAT A DIFFERENCE 2 HOURS MAKES! AIR FORCE AND NOAA HURRICANE
HUNTER AIRCRAFT INDICATE THE CENTRAL PRESSURE OF DENNIS DROPPED 11
MB IN AN HOUR AND A HALF. THE MAXIMUM FLIGHT-LEVEL WINDS REPORTED
N OF THE CENTER WERE 105 KT...AND THERE WERE LIKELY STRONGER WINDS
IN THE NORTHEASTERN QUADRANT THAT THE AIRCRAFT DID NOT SAMPLE.
THIS SPECIAL ADVISORY UPGRADES DENNIS TO A 100 KT CATEGORY 3
HURRICANE BASED ON THE AIRCRAFT DATA.

THE TRACK FORECAST IS UNCHANGED FROM THE PREVIOUS PACKAGE. IT IS
UNCLEAR HOW LONG THE CURRENT INTENSIFICATION WILL CONTINUE...BUT
THE INTENSITY FORECAST IS REVISED TO SHOW 12 HR OF RAPID
STRENGTHENING FOLLOWED BY SLOWER STRENGTHENING UNTIL LANDFALL. THE
NEW INTENSITY FORECAST BRINGS DENNIS ASHORE AS A CATEGORY 4
HURRICANE. AFTER-LANDFALL INTENSITIES WERE ALSO INCREASED THROUGH
72 HR TO REFLECT THE INCREASED LANDFALL INTENSITY.

At 6:00 o'clock this evening, a line of thundertorms stretched all the way across Alabama from Livingston, Eutaw and Greensboro in the west across to Centreville and Columbiana and finally into East Alabama near Anniston and Heflin.

The line of thunderstorms was marching steadily northward with lots of lightning and locally heavy rain. They were approaching the Birmingham area from the south.

Yes, Hurricane Dennis sent these storms our way, but this is not the main effect of Dennis. He will push those toward us later Sunday.

At 6 PM, EDT, The eye of Hurricane Dennis was near Latitude 25.9N, Longitude 84.9W or about 305 miles south of Panama City or about 395 miles SE of Biloxi.

The central pressure continues to fall rapidly...now down to 947 millibars.

This is not good.

Dennis has grown back into a dangerous, major hurricane, Category Three, with sustained winds of 115 mph. Winds are expected to increase even more this evening.

SPOT REPORTS
Mobile...mostly sunny, wind NE 13 mph
Apalachicola...heavy rain, wind SE, gusts to 28
Pensacola...partly sunny, wind NE 10
Destin...partly sunny, wind NE 9
Panama City...sunny, wind east 13
Orlando...cloudy, wind east 28
Lakeland...showers, wind south 17, gusts to 40

A Hurricane Hunter Aircraft late this afternoon went into Dennis and found that the pressure was falling rapidly and that Dennis was gfrowing even stronger.

Pressure now down to 947 millibars and sustained winds have increased to 115 mph making him a dangerous Category 3. He could possibly be close to Category 5 before landfall.

OTHER NOTES
We must not overlook a long line of thunderstorms moving north through Central Alabama late this afternoon. The line extends all the way across the state from marengo County in the west to Coosa, Clay and Randolph County in the east. Lots of lightning and strong gusty winds possible.

Yes, this is dur to Dennis.

000
WTNT64 KNHC 092140
TCUAT4
HURRICANE DENNIS TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
440 PM EDT SAT JUL 09 2005

REPORTS FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT INDICATE
THAT THE CENTRAL PRESSURE OF DENNIS HAS FALLEN RAPIDLY TO 947 MB.
DENNIS HAS REGAINED DANGEROUS MAJOR HURRICANE STATUS...CATEGORY 3
ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE...WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WINDS OF 115 MPH. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE EVEN MORE THIS
EVENING.

FORECASTER BEVEN

Hurricane Dennis has been moving across the open Gulf of Mexico this afternoon with not the slightest bit of resistance

Visible satellite photographs show that he still has a tightly wound eye, well formed, and he is growing stronger again.

Latest NHC advisory and track forecast point to a landfall on the Alabama-NW Florida coast Sunday Afternoon. Still too far out to try to say which community...could be Mobile, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Pensacola, you name it.

But the scary part is that the latest NHC point forecast estimates sustained winds of 125 mph with gusts as high as 155 just before landfall.

If that happens, he will be very destructive including a big storm surge east of the center. Many buildings still standing, but weakened from Ivan last September, can't stand much more.

DENNIS IN A NUTSHELL (4PM)

.....centered 320 miles SSE of Panama City, or 415 miles SE of Biloxi, Mississippi
.....moving NW 14 mph, gradually turning toward the NNW tonight or Sunday.
.....highest sustained wind about 105 mph, higher gusts
.....lowest pressure 955 millibars, 28.20 inches (has fallen a lot in the last 12 hours)

After making landfall, Dennis is forecast to move NW and north and soon after midnight Sunday night should be centered along the Alabama-Mississippi border east of meridian. Then on to west of Columbus, Miss., by midday Monday and into Extreme West Tennessee Monday night.

Tornado watches are near certain for most of Alabama as he progresses northward. Spinoff tornadoes forming quickly in spiral bands of thunderstorms are difficult to handle.

Flash flooding a real threat. In Central Alabama, 4 to 8 inches of rain possible. Wind damage may occur far northward into Alabama with the best chance along and west of Interstate 65. If Dennis grows as strong as forecast, trees and power lines will come down.

A Hurricane Warning is posted all along the the Alabama-NW Florida Coast and part of the Mississippi Coast. Inland Tropical Storm warnings extend into Central Alabama and a Flash Flood watch covers a wide area of the state.

Stay tuned...life must go on...

We are getting ready to go on the air at 5:00 on ABC 33/40 with live Dennis coverage.

We will be on the air from 6:00 until 9:30 on our two digital channels, 5.2 and 9.2. And, on all Charter cable systems in north/central Alabama on Channel 99. We will begin that with Governor Riley's news conference at 6:00. We will be back on ABC 33/40 at 10:00 with our crew from the coast.

Dennis is growing stronger at a rapid pace, and will become a major hurricane again tonight. NHC in their discussion this hour indicates it might even reach category four status at landfall.

Our opinion in this office is that the Mississippi/Alabama border area is the favored region for landfall, but EVERYONE from New Orleans to Panama City will have to be prepared for a major hurricane.

J.B. Elliott will be taking over blogging tonight.