Hurricane Sandy will enter the region just south of Cape May and travel up Delware Bay, the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center said late Friday morning.
The massive storm, packing winds of 80 m.p.h., is located near Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas and heading northwest.
Though the latest track from the Miami-based hurricane forecasting agency places the storm's predicted track slightly south compared to Thursday's forecast, meteorologists warned the public in a forecast discussion package not to "focus on the details" of the final point of landfall.
The current track guidance is the balance between two forecast models which predict the storm will hit somewhere between Long Island and the Delmarva peninsula.
"There continues to be a large spread in the exact track," an update from the hurricane center said.
But regardless of where the storm makes landfall, meteorologists were warning of a massive storm – tropical storm force winds stretch 275 miles from its center – that is still growing and will take on the characteristics of a nor'easter once its reaches the mid-Atlantic.
"It will not be a purely tropical system, with a core of powerful winds near the center, but rather more like a Nor'Easter, with strong winds over a larger area," said meteorologist Justin Roberti of AccuWeather.com.
No watches or warnings have been issued for the Shore area. Such advisories have been expanded to the Carolinas, however.
