With Joaquin strengthening to hurricane strength on Wednesday morning, Virginia is bracing for the effects of the storm currently churning in the waters off the East Coast.

As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, the eye of Hurricane Joaquin was located about 245 miles ENE of the Bahamas with sustained winds of 75 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. At that time, the storm was moving southwest at 6 mph.

A general motion toward the west-southwest or southwest was expected to continue through Wednesday night, the National Hurricane Center stated in its 8 a.m. advisory. Additional strengthening of the storm is expected Wednesday and today.

A map prepared by NOAA and the National Weather Service indicates somewhere between a 10 and 20 percent chance of tropical force winds impacting Gloucester and Mathews counties this weekend. The storm is expected to pass by the North Carolina/Virginia coast between 2 a.m. Sunday and 2 a.m. Monday. ...