Hurricane Dorian strengthens again to Category 3

Hurricane Dorian is once again a Category 3 storm — with wind gusts roaring at more than 110 mph — after weakening earlier in the week.

The National Hurricane Center provided the update at 11 p.m. Wednesday, saying “some fluctuations in intensity” were expected in the next 12 hours, followed by “slow weakening” Thursday through Friday.

Dorian was moving north at 7 mph — with meteorologists predicting “a turn toward the northeast” on Thursday. It will likely make a “northeastward motion at a faster forward speed” on Friday, according to NHC officials.

News of the storm intensifying will not sit well with North and South Carolina residents, who were bracing for a possible hit late Wednesday near Hilton Head, South Carolina, and North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Dorian had been downgraded on Tuesday to a Category 2 after battering the Bahamas as a Category 5 on Sunday. It strengthened throughout the day Wednesday while churning its way up the Atlantic coast.

“Life-threatening storm surge with significant coastal flooding is expected along a large portion of the southeast and mid-Atlantic coasts of the United States during the next couple of days,” the NHC warned in its 11 p.m. update.

More than 2 million residents reportedly have evacuated and headed inland as they await Dorian’s arrival.

The storm at one point was unleashing 225-mph winds and 23-foot surges. It has already claimed at least 20 lives.