Tropical Storm Hermine was heading toward the northern Florida coast on Thursday and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane by the time it hits land, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
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At around 10 p.m. (4 a.m. ET), Madeline was 175 miles south of Hilo, Hawaii, with 60 mph maximum winds.
The system, which is now in the Gulf of Mexico, is closing in on the state and expected to make landfall late Thursday. The storm will bring the risk of life-threatening inundation within the next 36 to 48 hours along the Gulf coast of Florida from the Aripeka to Indian Pass.
Significant flooding is possible with 3 to 6 inches of rain with the greatest flooding threat east of a line from Cordele to Macon to Washington. Estimates range from three to six inches in a general sense, with some areas in the eastern Big Bend possibly exceeding eight inches or more. Hurricane Lester was cruising 915 miles to the north of the archipelago with 120 mph sustained winds. As a cold front starts to enter the Southeastern United States Thursday, the storm will be forced to turn more to the northeast, in the direction of the Florida Gulf coast.
A hurricane warning was in effect for the area between Suwannee River westward to Mexico Beach, Florida.
While the center of the storm is now located about 350 miles west-southwest of Tampa, Florida, weather experts have predicted that the storm will likely strike Florida, and move up into Georgia and North and SC. Tropical storm conditions also are possible in Pinellas County Thursday and Thursday night. Heavy rain is expected to continue in the region throughout the day Friday and into Saturday.
The storm is expected to make landfall in Florida early Friday and by early Saturday the center of circulation should be near the Wilmington area.
National Hurricane Center meteorologists say there is a distinct possibility that tropical storm Hermine could become a hurricane before landfall.
In Tift County, school officials said that they’re working with the Emergency Management Agency.
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The National Weather Service in Wilmington, North Carolina, is warning residents to be prepared for heavy rains, possible flooding and perhaps even tornadoes as Tropical Storm Hermine heads toward the state from the Gulf of Mexico.
