When President Donald Trump updated the US public on Wednesday about the path of Hurricane Dorian, he used a map that at a glance looked identical to one released by forecasters last week.

But observers spotted a key difference.

A “cone” showing the probable path appeared to have been extended with a felt-tip pen to include part of the state of Alabama, analysts said.

The president has maintained in recent days that Alabama was at risk, despite meteorologists denying this.

Mr Trump said he did not know how the discrepancy appeared on the chart.

In an Oval Office briefing on Wednesday, Mr Trump pointed to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) forecast map from 29 August, and said Hurricane Dorian “would have affected a lot of other states”.

When asked afterwards about a black loop around Alabama on the chart, Mr Trump offered no explanation. “I don’t know,” he said.

He added: “I know Alabama was in the original forecast, they thought it would get a piece of it.”

NOAA directed queries to the White House press office, which did not immediately respond.

In its latest Dorian advisory on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a storm surge warning covering the coasts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

The hurricane hit the Bahamas with winds equalling the highest-ever recorded at landfall, before moving north late on Tuesday. At least 20 people were killed on the archipelago.

How did Alabama come up?

It began on Sunday morning when Mr Trump tweeted: “In addition to Florida – South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated.”

Twenty minutes later, a US government agency, the National Weather Service, tweeted from Birmingham, Alabama: “Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian.”

But Mr Trump soon afterwards on Sunday told reporters at the White House: “Alabama is going to get a piece of it, it looks like.”

About an hour later, he said at a Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) briefing that the hurricane “may get a little piece of a great place: It’s called Alabama”.

On Monday, media organisations said Mr Trump was incorrect about Alabama.

He seized on remarks by ABC News’ White House correspondent Jon Karl, who noted the president had “misstated the storm’s possible trajectory”.

Mr Trump tweeted on Monday: “Such a phony hurricane report by lightweight reporter @jonkarl of @ABCWorldNews.”

“I suggested yesterday at FEMA that, along with Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, even Alabama could possibly come into play, which WAS true.”

According to AP news agency, forecasts from last Friday indicated that a small strip of Alabama might be affected by Dorian.

However, by Saturday morning no meteorologist was predicting the southern state would be in the hurricane’s path.

It was 24 hours later that Mr Trump began asserting that Alabama was at risk from Dorian.

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