The hurricane's sustained winds are expected to hit up to 120 mph by late Tuesday, making it a major hurricane the designation for Category 3 storms and above, on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
In the storm's wake, the NHC said, "Michael is expected to produce heavy rainfall and flash flooding over portions of western Cuba and the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico during the next couple of days."
As was the case with recent devastating hurricanes such as Florence and Harvey, forecasters say the biggest dangers for this storm come from the massive amounts of water Michael will bring, in the form of a storm surge and intense rainfall.
"Heavy rainfall from Michael could produce life-threatening flash flooding from the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend region into portions of the Carolinas through Thursday," the hurricane center said.
Michael has quickly gained strength since the National Weather Service issued its first bulletin on the system Saturday. It became a tropical storm a littler after noon on Sunday; less than 24 hours later, it was a hurricane.
Forecasters say the storm will gain more intensity through Tuesday, with a chance it will weaken somewhat as it nears land in Florida.
Even if Michael weakens after landfall, the hurricane center says, part of the system will keep circulating over water along the southeastern coast a situation that will likely help Michael remain a tropical storm for the following 72 hours. After four days, hurricane experts say, the system should diminish and move off the mid-Atlantic coast.