“Last night, hurricane and tropical storm watches were issued along Florida’s Gulf Coast from Pasco County to Gulf County”.
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Meanwhile, Tropical Depression Eight continued to move away from the North Carolina coast Wednesday.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Andrew Hagan says the tropical depression that’s expected to become a tropical storm later Wednesday is keeping the atmosphere more moist than usual.
As of 10 a.m. CDT, Tropical Depression 9 was located about 305 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola, Fla., and was barely moving, according to forecasters. Tornadoes are also possible late Wednesday into Thursday morning, mainly across central Florida.
Tropical Depression #9 is likely to become a Tropical Storm later today, and continues to track toward Florida, Georgia, and eventually the coast of SC. Hurricane conditions are possible over portions of the hurricane watch area beginning Thursday afternoon. Sarasota, Bradenton, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Brandon and New Port Richey are among the communities included in the flood watch. Whichever depression reaches the wind threshold first will be dubbed Hermine, while the other will be called Ian.
The coast from Wilmington toward the SC border could see several inches of rain Friday and Friday night, forecasters in the weather service’s Morehead City office said.
If the storm lingers in the Gulf, however, and is allowed to drift north and west, it could make landfall in the more populated Florida panhandle and would have a little extra time to strengthen as well.
Hermine is expected to produce storm total rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches over portions of northwest Florida and southern Georgia through Friday, with possible isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches.
Hurricane Hermine is maintaining its intensity as Florida’s north coast braces for landfall.
As of Wednesday morning, Madeline had winds of 80 miles per hour, making it a Category 1 hurricane. Tropical storms become hurricanes when wind speeds reach 74 miles per hour. It’s expected to later curve northeastward. Anywhere from 3″-5″ of rain is possible in the next 48 hours. “The center doesn’t look like a well-formed center by any means”, Jerve said.
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Business owners on North Carolina’s Ocracoke and Hatteras Islands say they’ve experienced a drop in foot traffic. But by late Tuesday, many tourists had made a decision to fearless the weather.
