Harvey Now a Major Hurricane After Upgrading to Category 3

SAN ANGELO, TX-- The National Hurricane Center has upgraded Hurricane Harvey to a Category 3 storm. The storm barreling towards the Texas coastline has sustained winds of 120 miles per hour. 

The NHC says the storm, which is moving at a slow pace, is fueled by warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Meteorologists have labeled Harvey as a "life-threatening" storm due to the projected rainfall amounts and projected storm surge produced by the first major hurricane to hit the U.S. since 2005.

Harvey jumped from a tropical depression to a Category 1 storm on Thursday before growing into a Category 2 storm early on Friday. The outer bands of Harvey have already made landfall, but the eye of the storm is projected to make landfall near Corpus Christi either late Friday night or early Saturday morning.