[GO TO AL.COM/HURRICANE FOR UPDATED NEWS ON HURRICANE DORIAN]

Hurricane Dorian continued northward on a path toward the Carolinas late Wednesday and got stronger in the process.

Dorian’s winds rose to 115 mph, making it a Category 3 or major hurricane again, according to the National Hurricane Center. Dorian had peaked this weekend as a Category 5 with 185 mph winds before devastating the northern Bahamas.

Coastal areas in Georgia and South Carolina were feeling tropical storm conditions late Wednesday, and those should spread northward along the South Carolina coast over the next several hours, the hurricane center said.

North Carolina was bracing to get a visit from Dorian on Thursday.

The hurricane center’s main headline on Wednesday night was that “life-threatening storm surge with significant coastal flooding is expected” along the part of the Southeast and mid-Atlantic coasts over the next few days.

The forecast path is relatively unchanged: Dorian’s strongest winds remained nearby but offshore on Wednesday, but the center of the storm is forecast to get much closer to the coast in South Carolina starting tonight.

“No significant change to the previous track forecast was necessary,” the hurricane center said Wednesday night. “The forecast motion should bring the core of Dorian near the coast of South Carolina during the next 6 to 12 hours and over the Outer Banks of North Carolina between 24 and 36 hours.”

As of the 10 p.m. CDT Wednesday update from the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Dorian was located about 105 miles south of Charleston, S.C., and was moving north at 7 mph.

Dorian intensified again into a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 115 mph.

Dorian is tracking around the western outside edge of an area of high pressure and that is expected to steer the storm northward and northeastward over the next 12-36 hours, the hurricane center said.

If that track holds then the center of Dorian should approach the coast of South Carolina tonight, move near -- or over -- the coast on Thursday and then move near -- or over again -- the North Carolina coast Thursday night into Friday.

“It should be noted that the track is close to and almost parallel to the coast of the southeastern United States,” forecasters said, “and any deviation to the left of the track could bring the center onshore anywhere in the Carolinas.”

Dorian has grown larger today. Hurricane force winds extend 60 miles out from the center, and tropical storm winds extend outward for 195 miles.

The hurricane center said Dorian could fluctuate in intensity over the next 12 hours, but should start to slowly weaken Thursday and Friday.

Flash flooding was one of the big concerns as Dorian approaches the Carolinas.

The hurricane center said there will be a high risk of flash flooding on Thursday near the coast in South Carolina and southern North Carolina. Forecasters said the threat of flooding will spread northward from Florida into the mid-Atlantic states by Friday.

Storm surge is another big hazard. Storm surge warnings and watches stretched from Florida to Virginia on Wednesday morning, with some of the highest surge expected in South Carolina.

The hurricane center said 5 to 8 feet of surge will be possible from the Isle of Palms to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.

Four to feet of surge will be possible across a wider area from the Savannah River northward to Duck, N.C.

The Carolinas are also poised to get a lot of rain from Dorian. The hurricane center said 5 to 10 inches with isolated amounts of 15 inches will be possible along the coast there, with 3 to 6 inches possible from eastern Florida into southeast Virginia.

Here’s a look at watches and warnings on Wednesday:

* A storm surge warning is in effect from the mouth of St. Mary’s River in Florida to Poquoson, Va., Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers and Hampton Roads.

* A hurricane warning is in effect from north of Savannah River to the North Carolina/Virginia border and Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds.

* A storm surge watch is in effect from north of Surf City, N.C., to Poquoson, Va., including Hampton Roads, Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds and the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers.

* A hurricane watch is in effect from the mouth of St. Mary’s River to the Savannah River, from north of Surf City, N.C., to the North Carolina/Virginia border and Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds.

* A tropical storm warning is in effect from the mouth of St. Mary’s River to the Savannah River, from the North Carolina/Virginia border to Chincoteague Va.

* A tropical storm watch is in effect from north of Chincoteague, Va., to Fenwick Island, Del., Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Drum Point and the Tidal Potomac south of Cobb Island.

Dorian isn’t the only storm being watched on Wednesday.

There was one other named storm in the Atlantic late Wednesday: Tropical Storm Gabrielle.

Tropical Storm Gabrielle is far out in the Atlantic northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands and isn’t expected to threaten land. Gabrielle had 50 mph winds on Wednesday and could become a hurricane by the weekend.

The hurricane center issued its last advisory late Wednesday on what had been Tropical Storm Fernand, which made landfall earlier today in northeast Mexico.

The hurricane center said Fernand had dissipated inland over the rugged terrain of Mexico.