At 11 p.m. Thursday the center of the hurricane was about 535 south-southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and it was moving east-northeast at 22 mph, the hurricane center said.

The storm was forecast to pass south of Atlantic Canada on Friday and Saturday.

But even though the storm is out to sea, it remained “a very large system” and hurricane-force winds extended up to 105 miles from its center, the hurricane center said in a late Thursday bulletin. Tropical storm-force winds extended to around 320 miles.

The storm sent large waves spilling over dunes and onto parts of North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Wednesday, after a state of emergency was declared throughout the state Tuesday and evacuation orders were in place for counties on the coast.

The town of Kill Devil Hills, which is on the Outer Banks, said Thursday that high tides and the storm sent water breaching sand dunes at beach access points, which had been expected.

North Carolina Emergency Management Director Will Ray on Thursday warned people to stay out of the ocean, but said that conditions should improve Friday as the storm moves away.