Escambia County residents and the state are watching as Hurricane Nate makes its way toward landfall Saturday.

Nate is packing maximum winds of 90 mph right now with the center being 215 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, aka Louisiana’s boot heel on the map. Hurricane Nate will likely be a Category 1 or lower end Category 2 hurricane at the time of landfall in about 12 hours.

In Escambia County, forecasts are predicting 50-70 mph wind gusts possible as core of Nate moves very near these counties likely early Sunday. Isolated tornadoes possible this afternoon into the overnight. Heavy rain of two to five inches is possible through Sunday night.

Flash flooding remains a possibility as the county continues under a flash flood watch through Sunday.