A tropical depression that formed in the Florida Straits is moving into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. National Hurricane Center says it could soon become a tropical storm.
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On Aug. 31 the NHC posted a hurricane watch from Anclote River to Indian Pass, Florida. Tropical Storm Hermine strengthened into a hurricane Thursday and steamed.
The National Park Service said it plans to close Cumberland Island to visitors starting Thursday afternoon. Water levels won’t fall much during the subsequent low tide because of the expected storm surge, Austin said.
The storm has begun a move to the north at 2 miles per hour and a Tropical Storm Watch for the Gulf Coast has now been upgraded to a Tropical Storm Warning.
It is not expected to impact Texas, but Florida is standing by for the worst.
“Whether this is your first tropical storm or you’re a seasoned veteran of past hurricanes, you need to take this storm seriously and be prepared for the very real threats it could produce”, said Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Bryan Koon in a statement. Anywhere from 3″-5″ of rain is possible in the next 48 hours.
A news reporter doing a stand up near a sea wall in Cedar Key, Florida, is covered by an unexpected wave as Hurricane Hermine nears the Florida coast on Thursday. Weather experts expect that this depression could move back to the northeast in the next few days.
The center of the storm is expected to approach the northwest coast of Florida Thursday afternoon. Madeline was centered about 445 miles (715 kilometers) east of Hilo, Hawaii, and moving west at 10 mph (17 kph). Flooding was expected across a wide swath of the marshy coastline of the Big Bend – the mostly rural and lightly populated corner where the Florida peninsula meets the Panhandle. Some areas could see up to 15 inches of rain.
“We can not recall a case where three tropical cyclones were directly impacting the U.S.at the same time”, National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said. As of 5 p.m. EDT, the storm was located about 60 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., with winds of 35 mph. That depression is expected to become a tropical storm overnight and threatens to bring wind and rain to eastern North Carolina.
The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning Wednesday for part of the Gulf Coast, and a hurricane watch was also already in effect.
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That’s a possibility of five different storms to keep track of – Hermine, Gaston, Madeline, Lester and maybe Ian.
