It issued a hurricane watch from Indian Pass on the panhandle along the Gulf of Mexico to north of Tampa, saying hurricane conditions are possible within the area. Forecasters give odds of 70 percent that 12 to 17 named storms will form this year with five to eight strengthening into a hurricane. The maximum sustained winds were 35 miles per hour with a minimum central pressure of 1009 millibars. There remains uncertainty on both the exact track and future intensity of this storm so keep monitoring your WJCL app, Facebook and Twitter for the very latest. A watch is typically issued 48 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds, conditions that make outside preparations hard or risky.
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Tropical depression 8 was located about 60 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina at 5 p.m. Tuesday. A turn to the north northwest was expected Tuesday night, with another turn to the north northeast on Wednesday.
Forecasters expect the depression to make landfall in Florida as a tropical storm as early as Thursday.
Two storms are spinning off the Carolinas and in the Gulf of Mexico, now designated Tropical Depression Eight and Nine, respectively.
“If they’re not prepared now, they should get prepared fast”, said Chevy Chevalier, a meteorologist with the weather service.
The forecast track has been shifting back and forth but “if that track holds true we could be issuing tropical storm watches and warnings” as the storm nears, said meteorologist Emily Timte, National Weather Service, Charleston. Forecasters said the higher tides could result in inundation of low-lying coastal roadways. A hurricane watch has been issued for Maui and waters around the Big Island, and a tropical storm warning has been issued for the Big Island.
Forecasters were also tracking another tropical depression developing off the coast of Cuba, which was expected to churn toward Florida’s Gulf Coast later in the week.
Maximum sustained winds remained at 35 miles per hour as it was moving just north of west at 7 miles per hour. “But we are going to have storm surges, we are going to have flooding, we have the potential of tornadoes, and we’re going have rip currents”.
This one is the most immediate threat to United States soil, as it is churning less than 100 miles from the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
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Late on Tuesday, the hurricane center also said in an advisory that Hurricane Gaston reached major hurricane strength once again, but was no threat to land. The depression was still expected to just brush along the shoreline before turning more east and speeding into the north Atlantic by Friday. “The low- and mid-level centers are not well aligned, with convection continuing only sporadically near the center”, hurricane specialist Eric Blake said in a 4 p.m. discussion message.
